Folgen Sie Ihrem Traum
by Crystal Rose of Pollux
Summary: A traveling dance troupe recruits Téa to join them; she accepts, in the hopes of achieving her dream. Seto is on the trail of a fraud bent on ruining him; he wants it to end. Alas, not all dreams come true. Seto/Téa. Complete. *slightly edited 11/20/09*
1. Think of Me

Author's Note: This fic (whose title is German for "Follow Your Dream") can be read as a sequel to my previous mystery fic, "Geheimnisse im Tanzsaal." Several of the chapters will be inspired by the prompts at the 20 Cities and 30 Nights communities on LiveJournal. Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, except for the people associated with the traveling dance troupe.

* * *

For Téa Gardner, the stage was her life. There was no place she'd rather be than singing or dancing on a stage, and tonight, on that warm July night, she was preparing to do so. It was the last night of Domino's production of _The Sound of Music_, and Téa was ready to wow the audience as Maria, as she had been doing so the entire week.

Her performance had not gone unnoticed. The local papers were already raving about her performance, and it was apparently good enough that Téa's young friend Mokuba Kaiba had successfully convinced his famously aloof brother Seto to attend this final performance.

Téa had to wonder how much Mokuba had to convince him, or if Seto had been more willing to come than he had let on. After all, things were slowly changing between her and Seto Kaiba. She, along with her friends, had helped the brothers solve a baffling mystery a few months ago, involving a rival company owner and her scheme to take over Kaiba Corporation. Seto had been afflicted with a spider bite, which had prompted Téa to care for him until he eventually recovered.

She couldn't help but think that something had changed between them because of that. And sure enough, a few weeks later, they met on neutral ground at the museum, where she had (albeit cryptically) confessed her feelings for him. He seemed to have been able to see through her veiled words to see that she did, in fact, seem to be falling slightly in love with him after that spider incident.

Téa had been in for a slight disappointment. Seto didn't say anything that seemed to suggest that her feelings were returned. However, he did not casually toss her feelings aside or ridicule her because of them. Actually, he had avoided the topic altogether. She didn't know what to make of that, but she did notice that their future meetings were quite amiable indeed, a pleasant change from the bitter quarrels and arguments that they constantly had in the past. And he was here in the audience tonight; that surely meant something, didn't it?

Téa collected herself, banishing the bouts of nervousness as the orchestra began to warm up. It would soon be time for her opening solo, but she still had time to think about herself and Seto. Why hadn't he said anything about her feelings? Did he want her to full-out say, "I love you," or something like that? Téa didn't even know if she could say such a thing to Seto Kaiba, especially when she hadn't been able to say it to Pharaoh Atem.

With a sigh, Téa made her entrance onto the stage and began to sing. Her mezzo-soprano voice rang through the crowded auditorium. She knew she shouldn't have done so, but she couldn't resist glancing across the audience, trying to find familiar faces. She spotted Yugi immediately; that hair was unmistakable. And the rest of her friends were right next to him. They had been to every performance that week, purely by their own choice.

Mokuba was with the others, too, but Seto was not; he was sitting a few seats away, determined to distance himself as much as possible from Yugi and the rest of Téa's friends. She tried to focus on her singing, but the back of her mind had to consider that if Seto wasn't so keen on being associated with her friends, how would he ever acknowledge her feelings? Was that why he hadn't said anything? Did he know that associating with Téa meant having the others flocking close behind? Or did he honestly not have any thoughts on her feelings at all?

She finished the opening solo, blinking back the tears in her eyes. She couldn't cry onstage, especially now! She barely heard the cheering of the audience; her eyes sought out Seto, who was only applauding half-heartedly. Téa was grateful for her exit cue.

"_Don't think about Kaiba right now_," she ordered herself, as she gathered her composure offstage. "_He's here, isn't he? Be grateful for that. You owe it to everyone else in the audience to give your very best._"

"Hey, Gardner!" a voice whispered to her. It was the young man playing the captain. "Rumor has it that there are talent scouts in the audience."

Téa smiled slightly, her eyebrows arched.

"And just where did you hear that?" she asked, skeptical.

"From the stagehands," he replied. "But I suppose their news doesn't mean much… Hey, have you been crying?"

"What? No; I'm fine," she said, hurriedly drying her eyes.

"Hey, I know it's the last performance, but come on!" he said. "You've been doing so well; you're sure to get the lead roles from now on!"

"I know… and don't think I'm not grateful," she said. "But is that all I'll be doing? I wanted to go abroad and dance on bigger stages than just a local performing arts center… I want to make a name for myself." She sighed, and thought to herself, "_And I want to find a way to make certain people understand how I feel._"

"It'll happen for you, Gardner!" her costar assured her, with a good-natured grin. "You never know… that rumor about the talent scouts might be real!"

"Here's hoping," she replied.

* * *

And Téa continued her role to the best of her ability. She soon became one with the role, and forgot about Seto completely. Meanwhile, Seto Kaiba himself was going over a few complicated thoughts in his own mind. For one thing, he couldn't figure out why he was even here, when he had work to complete; a recent prospective business deal had turned sour, prompting the one who had proposed the deal to say that he was having second thoughts and was considering the prospect of backing out of the deal. Well, this was all well and good for him, but Kaiba Corporation had already invested time and money into the project.

"_The idiot should have left a message by now_," Seto thought. "_He said that he would finalize his decision this evening, and would reimburse Kaiba Corporation if he did pull out…_"

And he had to agree that if this person was going to be this indecisive, he'd prefer being left alone. But that was only half of it; he wasn't very trusting of the man, and doubted that he would pay the money, as the contract clearly stated.

Seto rolled his eyes in annoyance; as long as he was in the audience, there was no way he'd be able to check his messages. And Yugi and the others, Mokuba included, would never allow him to leave to do so, either.

"_How long is it until intermission, anyway?_" he thought, checking the program. He suppressed a growl of annoyance after realizing that intermission was only going to be ten minutes long. That might not be long enough discuss how strict this contract was and point out that he would refuse to continue with this nonsense. But it would be long enough to try.

Realizing that he paid money to attend the show, he decided to watch and try to enjoy it. Yes, he had to admit that Téa Gardner could sing and dance. That was all well and good for her, though he failed to see how that knowledge would benefit him in any way. He wasn't the kind of person who wanted to get away from his work, in spite of however much Mokuba wanted him to do so.

Seto politely watched as one scene progressed into another. But he found himself annoyed as he watched Téa waltz with her costar during the ballroom scene. Of course; his interest could only have been held by a musical for so long. Or was it because of something else? Of course not! Why would he be annoyed by the fact that someone was dancing with Téa?

He was grateful for intermission, and managed to steal away for a chance to check his text messages. Sure enough, there was a reply.

"_Mr. Kaiba, it causes me deep regret to inform you that I have decided not to proceed further with the deal_," the message read. "_However, I know that you will insist that I stick to the contract, and rightly so. Kaiba Corporation's money will be paid; I have already sent the check. It should reach your accountants within the week. I apologize for any inconvenience I may have caused you._"

"Too late for that…" Seto muttered in annoyance. He wondered what had become of the money Kaiba Corporation had given; it was supposed to have been used for researching a new holographic design technique. But it didn't really matter in the end, he realized. All he would have to do would be to make a mental note not to take up any more offers from this man, in case he decided to change his mind again and come back.

Still, it struck him as odd that the man would be so willing to quit and return the money so quickly. He would have expected to make at least one phone call to remind him. Of course, if the check didn't arrive, he would certainly make it clear that the money had to be paid. Kaiba Corporation's lawyers were now far superior to Johnson or any of the other lawyers that Gozaburo had hired.

Seto frowned at the memory of his stepfather. He knew that some shred of the cruel man's virtual data still existed somewhere out there, however weak it may be. And neither he nor Gozaburo were going to rest until the other was defeated. It was only the matter of who would win first.

And this brought his mind back to Téa Gardner. He had lost count of the number of times she had tried to tell him that Gozaburo had wanted Seto to become cold and aloof, and that he should resist out of defiance. He glanced back at the girl on the stage, as the show resumed. He couldn't help but wonder if there was some reason why she kept on trying, only to be ignored again and again. Perhaps her little veiled confession was her way of saying that she wanted him to be more open before she fully declared how she felt.

"_She may as well stop dreaming_," Seto said to himself. "_I'm not changing for anyone. And if she thinks I'm going to forget all of those speeches and arguments, she needs to wake up and see the light…_" His train of thought came to a screeching halt as the scene changed, revealing Téa in a dazzling dress for the wedding scene. "_No_…" he thought, looking away furiously. "_If she's serious about those feelings of hers, she's going to have to take me as I am. She's going to have to seek me out and convince me that she is ready to give up all of her friendship speeches, and that she can find a place for herself in my life, because I can't be bothered by something so…_" He flinched, slightly, as he saw her kiss the other young actor out of the corner of his eye. "_… something so trivial…_"

Why was he flinching? Was he dreading the thought that one day, those lips might kiss him? Or was it for another reason? The notion that he was actually jealous was completely laughable!

"_It's official; I've spent far too much time with _them," he thought, casting a glance at Yugi and his friends.

Téa, in the meantime, pulled away from the kiss and noticed that Seto was staring determinedly elsewhere.

"_He's not even watching_," she thought, slightly hurt. "_He's probably thinking of that company of his again…_"

She wasn't surprised; she had expected him to become bored by the show. But it didn't change the fact that she was disappointed.

"_Should I see this as a reason to forget about my feelings for him?_" she asked herself. "_I could just leave him alone; that's probably what he wants. But then I'd never forgive myself._"

She sighed as she departed the stage again for the scene change. Acting seemed so much simpler than real life. She got to deal with other people's problems and troubles, and she got to forget her own. And her problem was certainly one that few could relate to.

"_I wish there was an easy way to solve this_," she thought. "_If he was like Atem, this would've been so easy. Atem was so warm-hearted and open. Kaiba's heart must be colder than Antarctica in winter…_"

She hated the thought of asking Mokuba to act as a messenger, even if he wouldn't mind at all (and she knew he wouldn't; their friendship was such that he would welcome her into the family with open arms). Seto would certainly be furious if she did so, which wouldn't improve her position in any way. And she could hardly walk into Kaiba Corporation and talk to him during working hours; he'd be even more livid if she tried that.

"_There has to be some way to get him to understand_," she said to herself. "_And I'll keep searching until I find it._"

"Hey," whispered her co-star. "Our cue's coming up; you ready to go back out there?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said.

She shook off her troubles and returned back to the stage, and she was pleased to see that Seto had focused his attention back to the show again. The show would have to go on regardless of whatever he did, but at least he was watching it. And that raised her spirits, however slightly.

Maybe there was hope.


	2. A Chance of a Lifetime

The night ended on a successful note, literally speaking. Téa's performance had won her a standing ovation when she came to take her bows. Even Seto was standing, though that may have been because he didn't want to be the only one sitting down, so she didn't read too much into it.

She retreated to her dressing room, half relieved that it was all finished, but still wistful for the chance to continue performing on the stage. Until then, she would have to go back to regular recitals and teaching the younger students.

But she was distracted upon hearing a small crowd outside the door. A smile rose to he lips.

"Who is it?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.

"Just the official Téa Gardner Fan Squad!" Joey's voice answered.

She let them in, but she was astounded to see that Seto Kaiba was with them. The reason soon became clear; Mokuba had blocked his escape path.

"_Thanks for trying_," she mentally told the raven-haired boy. She then proceeded to thank her friends for the shower of praises they were bestowing upon her.

"I know it doesn't mean much, coming from us," said Mai. "After all, we may be _slightly_ partial in our opinions…"

"You could always ask my brother for an objective viewpoint," said Mokuba. "Seto, how was she?"

"My expertise isn't in the arts, Mokuba," the CEO replied, who was wanting nothing more than a chance to steal away.

Mokuba blinked.

"He means that he was so floored, he doesn't have any words to describe it!" he translated.

"Kaiba, you could at least say _something_," said Tristan.

"And is there any need for me to bother?" Seto replied. "How much does my opinion mean to Gardner, anyway?"

"_If you only knew…_" Téa thought, and then she chided herself for it. After all, Seto Kaiba wasn't going to change; she shouldn't expect it from him. And if she did, she would have tell him exactly how she felt, and what she wished for in a relationship. He couldn't be expected to read her mind.

"So what's next on your list of things to do this summer?" asked Yugi. "You don't have to practice for days on end now…" She could sense the hidden plea; Yugi clearly wanted her to rejoin the group like old times. The truth was that they were beginning to drift away. Atem had left more than a year ago, and, since then, everyone seemed to be heading off in his or her own direction. The fiasco at the theater a few months back had been the first time in a while that they had collaborated on any sort of adventure since seeing Atem off.

"Well I doubt I'll be busy," she said, smiling. "Maybe tomorrow we can all hang out somewhere--" She was cut off by her costar arriving in the room, a bemused expression on his face.

"Téa, there's someone here to see you," he said. "He wants to meet with you alone… I think he's the talent scout that the stagehands were mentioning about…"

"Are you serious!?" she asked, getting to her feet.

As if to answer her inquiry, a young, slightly scruffy-haired man entered the room, giving Téa a very charismatic grin.

"So _you're_ Téa Gardner?" he asked, not even pausing to notice the others. "You're talking to Mactan Kayser, leader of the 'Dancers of the Elements' traveling troupe. I'm sure you've heard of us…"

Téa nodded. They were a famous traveling dance troupe, known for highly stylized costumes and unique forms of interpretive dance.

"Do you think you could spare a moment, in which we could discuss your future as a professional dancer?" the man asked.

"Um… certainly… Wait, do you mean right this moment?" she asked, glancing around at her friends.

"No time like the present, especially you're dealing with the world of the arts," he replied. "One must jump at fruitful opportunities, for their windows are never opened for long."

"Well, I was just…" Téa began, but Yugi was already ushering the others out of the dressing room, trying to hide his disappointment. "_Oh, Yugi,_" she thought. "_I'm so sorry…_"

Kayser closed the door after everyone had left, but that didn't stop Joey and Tristan from immediately pressing their ears against the door.

"Don't you two have anything better to do?" asked Seto, giving them a condescending look.

"Not at all," said Joey. "Now keep it down! I can't hear!"

Seto merely rolled his eyes in reply, but found that he couldn't leave, as Mokuba had joined the others; they had taken a cue from Joey and Tristan and had embarked upon their own eavesdropping attempt.

"You're a very talented performer, Miss Gardner," Kayser was saying. "But do you have any plans now that this production has come to a close?"

"Not really," Téa admitted. "I was going to continue as a general dancer and tutor until the next round of auditions."

"And how far do you think that will take you?" he asked. "Face it, Miss Gardner; this town is holding you back."

"This town has everything I hold dear," Téa replied, icily. "It has my home, my friends…"

"But it doesn't have a way for you to achieve your dreams," he countered. "Do correct me if I'm wrong."

Téa had to admit to herself that he had a point. After all, she had only mentioned a couple hours ago to her costar about how she wanted to go abroad and dance, but she had never even considered that she would have to abandon Domino so soon… not for a couple years, at least.

"So it was most fortunate for you that I happened to discover your talent," Kayser went on. "I'll get straight to the point; you're a natural performer, and that's why I'm offering you this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. You have an invitation to join the 'Dancers of the Elements,' and I need your RSVP within the next twenty-four hours; we're beginning rehearsals in three days, you see. We would need you to be there, of course."

"I… I really don't know what to say…" said Téa. "This isn't at all what I expected… I need time to think…"

"Like I said, you have until tomorrow night to decide," he said, handing her a business card and brochure. "I'll even pay for your ticket to our rehearsal site, and from then on, all travel fares to our destinations are paid in full."

"Destinations?" Téa asked.

"Surely you've heard of some of the venues we've performed at," he said, indicating the brochure. "I even pulled some strings for a Broadway performance this time around. We can discuss contract negotiations when you arrive," he added, as Téa's eyes widened as she read.

Kayser opened the door, resulting in Joey and Tristan falling into the room with a crash. The dance troupe leader suppressed a laugh, waved goodbye to Téa (who had been flinching as she glanced at her friends), and left.

"Are you going to join them!?" Joey blurted out, before he even got to his feet.

"Joey, give her time to think," said Yugi. "But congratulations anyway, Téa; it must be a huge honor to be invited to a group as famous as that."

"I know…" Téa said, a faraway look in here eyes. "They're going to be on Broadway, too… and I could be there with them…" And it also solved the problem of how to deal with Seto Kaiba; she wouldn't have to bother with him at all. And that would surely be a relief to him, too.

"Oh, Téa, if you joined them and became famous, that would be so wonderful!" exclaimed Serenity, who had arrived in town specifically to attend the performance that had just ended.

"It's what you've been wishing for your entire life…" Yugi added, softly. He was incapable of hiding his feelings; he wasn't ready to say goodbye to her, but couldn't bring himself to ask her to give up her dreams just to stay back.

And for Téa, the timing was just perfect. She, like the rest of her classmates, was just out of high school, and for someone her age, a chance like this didn't come along that often. In fact, for some people, the chance never came at all. And she might never get another chance like this again.

But while all of her friends were excitedly discussing about how far this chance could take her, Seto Kaiba stood to the side, his arms folded and his eyes narrowed as he glanced at the scene.

"Do you really think that this is the moment to celebrate and make rash decisions?" he asked.

"Who asked you, Kaiba?" Joey yelled over his shoulder.

"I was just saying that she shouldn't act like an idiot and commit to something just because it sounds too good to be true," the CEO replied. "Because if it sounds that way, then it is."

Téa couldn't believe what she was hearing. Was Seto Kaiba actually saying that he _wanted_ her to stay in Domino?

"So speaks the great pessimist," Duke sneered. "If she came back from her world tour with a gold medal, you'd be the first one to say that it was only gold plated."

"_Of course; Duke's right_," Téa realized, dismissing her previous thought. "_Kaiba thinks like a businessman; he'd never trust anyone. Maybe it is strange that everything's moving so fast… but how can I resist the chance to be on Broadway? But maybe I should think it over…_"

* * *

And so, for the next day, Téa pondered over her how to make decision. She researched Kayser and the dance troupe online, and they seemed like the real deal. She had a lengthy discussion with her parents, who seemed reluctant to see her go so soon, but promised to back her up one hundred percent, no matter what her decision was.

She also had a lengthy discussion with her friends, who, while stressing the fact that they didn't want to see her leave, either, pointed out that dreams were meant to be followed and fulfilled. After all, where would Serenity have been if Joey hadn't followed his dream to seek the Duelist Kingdom prize money? Atem would've been sealed in the Millennium Puzzle for all eternity if he and Yugi hadn't followed their dream to unlock his memories and save the world. And Mokuba pointed out that he and his brother would have been someplace very different if Seto hadn't followed his dream to open up a chain of amusement parks (a dream that he was still seeking out).

Seto himself hadn't attended this meeting of the minds, however; he had been far too busy with trying to track down the whereabouts of the check that he was due to receive. He also knew that it was useless to try to convince Téa that she may be going in over her head; her heart was too much afire and fixed on the beckoning of Broadway. Why had he even bothered to put in his opinion? It wasn't as though his views meant anything to her. And he was a firm believer that people should learn lessons from their mistakes; he had learned more than his share of lessons himself.

"_Let her realize that she went too quickly with this_," he thought, as he glanced out the window to see the group chatting amongst themselves. "_She'll come back sadder but wiser, and her friends will cheer her up soon enough, anyway. I'll just have to bite back the temptation of saying, 'I told you so.'_"

Of course, there was every chance in the world that she would have the time of her life. If that was the case, then, so be it. She would be happy, and he would be concerned with his own work… probably not as happy, but since when was happiness ever a part of his life?

But there was also that issue of her feelings for him. Well, if she did decide to go, that would solve everything, wouldn't it? If anything, he should be relieved that she was going.

So why on earth had he wanted to advise her to stay?

* * *

As the day was drawing to a close, Téa took her leave of her friends and went to take a long walk through the town as it was being bathed in the light of the sunset. She knew that she wouldn't be able to see it for a long time, for she had already come to her decision. She just had to confirm that it was the right one.

And that was what brought her to a small psychic's shop; the owner, who went by the name of Madame Mystíca, had proved herself to be a true seer of the future after all of the help she had given them during the mystery this past spring.

Téa was immediately greeted by a friendly capuchin monkey as she entered the shop.

"Hey, Delphi…" she said, giving the little creature a much-welcomed scratch right behind its ear.

"Miss Gardner!" exclaimed the psychic, without even needing to turn around. "I understand that you'll soon be leaving us?"

"I think…" she said. "That's what I wanted to talk to you about. I just want to know if this is a good idea."

"Well, what can be a good idea in one sense can be a bad idea in another," the psychic replied. "For example… it's a bad idea, for you know that you'll miss your friends."

"But isn't it a good idea because I'll be chasing after my dreams?"

"Are you sure that is a question that _I_ can answer?" Mystíca asked, now turning to face her.

"Of course; I know it's a good idea to chase my dreams," said Téa. "But you can see into the future, right? Do you see my dream coming true?"

"We all have many dreams, Miss Gardner," the psychic replied, in a soft voice. "Some of them come true, and some of them don't. But which ones come true don't depend on the views of psychics; they depend on the path you take. Sometimes, the chase falls short, and you have regrets that you didn't catch the dream that you longed for. But do you mope about it, or do you get right back up and chase another dream that happens to come by?"

"I'm afraid I don't follow you," said Téa.

"Then remember those words, for they will make sense in time," she said. "That, I can predict. And I have confidence in saying that you will miss out on something very precious if you do not go."

"That's all I wanted to hear," said Téa. "Thanks for everything."

"Goodbye," said Mystíca. "And take care. I don't have to tell you how much you'll be missed here. Oh, don't bother," she added, as Téa offered her money in exchange for the reading. "It's on us, as a farewell present for you."

Delphi chattered in agreement.

Téa nodded and left the shop. She headed home, where she proceeded to make a call to Kayser. And she told him that she accepted the invitation.


	3. Until We Meet Again

Kayser was pleased that Téa had decided to join the troupe. He didn't want to waste any time, since rehearsals were due to begin, so Téa found herself packing well into the night upon receiving an e-ticket to Tokyo the next day. She knew she couldn't take much with her; she managed to fit the contents of her wardrobe, a few books, a journal, and a photo album into two small suitcases.

It would have to do; so much would have to be left behind… and not just her things, either. She would have given anything for the chance to have her friends accompany her.

"_I need to get a grip_," she thought. "_Remember what Mystíca said… if I don't go, I'll be missing out on something precious. And now that I know that, I'll never forgive myself if I don't go._"

Yes, acting was easier. If she left her friends in a musical or play, she could easily meet up with them offstage. She couldn't exactly do the same in real life. She would have to move on.

"No one told me that achieving this dream would be so difficult," she said aloud, to no one in particular. "But I shouldn't be acting like this, anyway. Friends split up all the time; it was only a matter of time until it happened to us. First Atem, and now me… and then there's Kaiba, who was never really a part of our group to begin with. I almost wish I was like him; this wouldn't be so tough…"

She trailed off. She would never know if she and Seto could've started a relationship. But given his personality, maybe it was for the better; they would've driven each other crazy within the first week.

She sighed, banishing the image of the CEO to the recesses of her mind.

* * *

The next morning, Téa said goodbye to her parents as she heard the arrival of her taxi cab outside the door. Mr. and Mrs. Gardner were helping her bring her suitcases outside, and they were all astounded to see Yugi and the others standing on the house's porch.

"You know you didn't have to see me off like this," said Téa, though she was secretly grateful that they had done so.

"Oh, don't be ridiculous," said Mai. "It's no trouble, and besides… the boys are here specifically to help with all of that luggage."

She clapped her hands twice. Joey and Tristan snapped to attention and proceeded to carry Téa's suitcases into the taxi. Téa suppressed a smile, wondering how much they had tried to get away from the responsibility.

"There's no way we would have missed saying goodbye," said Yugi. "You're going to be traveling for goodness knows how long."

"And when you become a famous dancer, we can all boast that we knew you before you became a star!" said Joey, closing the trunk of the taxi cab. "Hey, if you ever need an agent--"

"I'll let you know," Téa finished, feeling like laughing and crying at the same time. It was a bittersweet moment; she had been dreaming of going abroad to achieve her dreams, but hadn't counted on how difficult it would be to leave behind the friends she cared for so much.

"And we wanted to give this to you," Yugi added, handing her a wrapped present and a farewell card.

"It's a going-away present," explained Duke.

"It was my idea," said Mokuba, pointing to the gift. "Well, the actual gift was my idea; the idea of a parting gift was everyone's idea, of course…"

"We all chipped in to buy it," added Bakura.

"But don't open it until you leave!" said Serenity, drying a few stray tears.

"You write to us everyday, got it?" asked Tristan, shaking her hand.

"Of course," whispered Téa, her voice leaving her.

She glanced around at the group of assembled friends, but the absence of one person stood out. Seto Kaiba was not among the crowd. She knew that he tended to avoid scenes such as these, but she was still disappointed; it had seemed as that the dance hall mystery had helped them to understand each other slightly, and that feelings between them were changing. But no; he hadn't even bothered to show up, even though Mokuba had. She didn't want to admit it, but she was hurt. Even though she hadn't confessed to him about her feelings, she had hinted about them, and he seemed to have understood. So why hadn't he come? Surely Mokuba had told him; surely he knew that this would mean that they she wouldn't be seeing him for months… maybe even years, if she was especially successful…

"You know, Téa," said Yugi. "I know you always talked about leaving Domino… I just never thought the day would actually come… I'm really going to miss you, Téa."

"Hey, we all will," said Joey. "You're one of a kind, Téa. And it's never going to be the same without you. Now you come and visit us, y'hear?"

She nodded, and then proceeded to hug each of her friends goodbye (she had to stop and wonder if she would have gone so far as to hug Seto Kaiba, too, if he had been there; would he have accepted the hug? Or would he have turned away?). She got into the taxi, and as it began to drive away, she turned back to see them one last time, as they chased after the departing cab.

She continued to wave until the cab pulled away, and she could no longer see them. And then she let her tears fall.

"You OK, Miss?" the driver asked.

"I'll be fine," she assured him. One of the tears splashed upon the wrapped gift. "Oh, that's right, I forgot…"

She read the card first.

"_Téa, we miss you already. Just remember that we'll always be thinking about you, just like you'll be thinking of us. You know we want you to go out there be the greatest dancer in the world, but forgive us for being a little bit selfish in that we wish you were back here with us. All the same, go out there and break a leg (not literally, of course)! We know you'll be great! Hope you like the gift we got; it'll help you keep in touch!_"

And they had all signed the card… all of them, except Seto Kaiba. This realization also hurt. She thought he had changed, albeit slightly, and yet he had been obviously indifferent to her leaving.

She opened the present now, and was astounded to see that it was handheld computer, manufactured by Kaiba Corporation and had already been completely personalized for her, obviously Mokuba's doing. Attached to it was a post-it note, written by Mokuba.

"_Hope you like it, Téa; thanks for being such a great friend. It's from all of the others, too, of course; they all paid for it, but I was sure to give it the best worldwide access to the internet! Now go out there and dance!_"

She was able to connect to the internet immediately, and proceeded to sent thank-you emails to everyone. She couldn't have asked for a better gift; home would be always a pocket away.

* * *

Seto was hard at work when he received a phone call from a slightly annoyed Mokuba.

"I hope you're happy, big brother, because Téa just left; she's probably halfway to the airport right now," he said. "I don't know why you didn't want to show up, or even sign the farewell card. Seto, it's not like she ever did anything to you; what was so important that you couldn't even say goodbye?"

"The welfare of our company, for one," the young CEO replied.

"Kaiba Corporation was not going to be ruined if you had stepped away for fifteen minutes…" the boy replied.

"Mokuba, I was too busy to go," Seto insisted. "I couldn't help it, and I'm sure Gardner will understand. And she'll have to come back to Domino sometime; I can easily speak with her then."

"If you say so…" Mokuba replied. "I think I'm heading to the arcade for a while, so I'll catch up with you later."

"That's fine," the CEO said. "I need to finish up work here, anyway."

After the brothers had said their goodbyes, Seto had to reflect upon the real reason why he had decided not to attend Téa's send-off. He could have easily placed his work aside for fifteen minutes, as Mokuba had pointed out. But attending her send-off might have brought up an unexplainable notion: that he might not have wanted her to leave in the first place.

But why would he _not_ want to see her leave, after all of her endless friendship speeches and remarks about how stubborn and impossible he was? Shouldn't he be looking forward to the fact that he would no longer have to hear them and put up with them?

He didn't know what to make of this thought. But perhaps he owed her some sort of good luck message. He could send her a message via her new handheld computer; perhaps that would work. He began to compose the message.

"_Miss Gardner, the news of your departure has reached me. The news was surprising, albeit expected. I wish you luck on your dancing endeavors. Sincerely, Seto Kaiba._"

Seto glanced over the message, and a frown crossed his face.

"_Listen to me; I sound like I came right out of __Pride and Prejudice__…_" he thought. "_Why is this so difficult!? There was a time when I wouldn't even bother with sending a message at all…_"

Perhaps it was the fact that he wanted to send a message that made it difficult. And there was only one reason why he would want to send her the message; it would be the same reason why he may not have wanted her to leave. As unbelievable as it sounded, he missed her.

But that was impossible! Seto Kaiba never missed anyone! And even if he did, the last person he would miss would be Téa Gardner!

"_Don't tell me I've grown accustomed to her speeches…_" Seto thought, but he wasn't as derisive as he normally was.

But was it just because he was getting used to her? Or was it something more? She had, after all, revealed that she cared for him. And perhaps, he cared for her; he had saved her from drowning beneath the cellars of the performing arts center only a few months ago.

"_Well, it doesn't matter now_," he said to himself. "_As Mokuba said, she's already left…_"

And yet he knew, if he hurried, he could probably take his limo and arrive at the airport when she did, in time for a face-to-face meeting. But what was he supposed say to her? He couldn't possibly tell her the truth—that he did in fact care for her, when his reputation clearly stated that no one else had room in his life. He couldn't possibly tell her that!

With a frustrated sigh, he minimized the message he had written; he would have to find a different way to phrase what he was trying to say. But he wasn't even sure what that was.

"_This isn't supposed to be difficult_," he chided himself. "_Either write that message, or go speak to her for five minutes!_" It wasn't like him to be so indecisive or at a loss for words.

With a frustrated growl, he slammed his laptop shut. If this prospect was going to haunt him until he did something, he may as well go speak to her and place this whole fiasco behind him. Maybe then, he'd move on, and perhaps she would, too. There would be no need to dwell on the possibilities of what could have happened. Seto Kaiba didn't believe that a relationship between them would've worked out, anyway. And he would have to tell her that. Yes, it would be harsh, and she would hate him for saying it, but it was the truth… wasn't it?

He was about to place a call to his chauffeur to ready the limo, but his cell phone rang before he could do so. Roland's voice clearly indicated trouble.

"What it is now?" Seto asked, thinking of the million and one things that could be going wrong.

"Mr. Kaiba, we… we just received that overdue check," Roland began. "And--"

"Then cash the check, and let's move on," Seto replied. "The procedure is very simple."

"That's just it, Mr. Kaiba," said Roland, dreading his employer's reaction to the news he was about to deliver. "The accounting department tried to cash the check, but… it bounced."

"…WHAT!?"

Everything—Téa, her departure, the conversation, the message—was instantly banished from Seto's mind. It was as he had predicted; that fool hadn't intended to pay back the money. He only pretended to agree, in the hopes that Seto would somehow not notice the bad check.

"Hold all transactions, Roland," the CEO ordered. "I'm heading to the accounting department to take a look myself."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

As Seto stormed down the corridor, his mind did briefly remember Téa. Well, he certainly wouldn't be able to meet with her now; she would have to settle for an email later.

"_Sorry, Gardner_," he thought. "_But this is just further proof that it would never work out._"


	4. Not One Mistake

Téa spent the duration of the flight glancing out of the window. She wasn't really looking at anything; her mind was on the friends and family she had just left behind. They had wanted to come with her to the airport, but she had kindly insisted that they didn't go out of their way. But that was only half of it; she knew that dragging out the goodbyes would have made everything that much worse. Things were difficult enough as they were.

The plane touched down in Tokyo, and, upon leaving the airport, Téa stepped into the night air with a sigh. The lights of the brilliant city glittered in the distance.

"_I wish the others could see this_," she thought, in spite of herself. But her train of thought came to a screeching halt as Kayser arrived with the other dancers, in the troupe's rented bus.

"Glad you made it, Miss Gardner!" he exclaimed, as she boarded the bus. "Now, then… here's how we work… each dancer is assigned to personify an element. The dancers of the same element train together to learn their individual steps, and then all of the groups are brought together afterwards to practice the routine in full. Your fellow element members will be your family. And we're in the need of a dancer to personify the element of fire; we're supposed to have four dancers for each element (two men and two women), and the last young lady to personify fire decided to leave for other endeavors, thereby vacating the position to you. The other fires are sitting over there; why don't you go introduce yourself to them? You'll be seeing a lot of them from now on, and you'd want to be on good terms with them, right?"

Téa nodded, unable to get a word in edgeways. She worked her way over to the back corner of the bus, stumbling slightly as the driver pulled into the main road and picked up speed. The other fires glanced at her, obviously beginning to form their first impressions.

"Hi…" she said, with a friendly smile. All three of her colleagues merely replied with a curt nod, and she was forcefully reminded of Seto Kaiba. Compared to these people, she'd rather deal with him (at least she _knew_ him on some level). "I'm Téa Gardner."

"Kayser told us about you…" said the only other girl, her hair a shocking shade of red. "They call me Caerii Tessurca. This guy," she added, indicating the burly young man next to her. "Is my twin brother and dance partner, Hesper."

The youth grunted in agreement, his hair also dyed red.

Téa smiled nervously. This was definitely _not_ the start she had been hoping for.

"_They make Kaiba seem so open and warm…_" Téa thought, suppressing a shudder. "_Ugh… why am I thinking about him again!?_"

"Cat got your tongue…?" asked Caerii, her eyebrows arched.

"Uh… no; not at all," said Téa, searching for some excuse. "I was just wondering… Why do you both have your hair like that?" She frowned. "_I could've some up with something so much better than that..._" she thought.

"Well, we _are_ supposed to represent fire," said a more pleasant-looking young man with brown hair, as he grinned at her. "But you and I are lucky; our hair is auburn enough so that we can get away without going through that! Call me Aurus—Aurus Kayser, younger cousin to the big boss himself! And if you don't mind my saying, you're a lot better-looking than the last girl who was my dancing partner!"

"Aurus!" the others groaned, but Téa was grateful; at least someone had broken the ice.

"Why did she leave?" Téa asked.

"Kayser said she was getting married or something like that…" said Caerii, unconcerned.

"Oh…" the young girl from Domino replied.

"In other words," said Aurus, with another grin. "Nothing to be worried about; she didn't break her leg or collapse from overwork…"

That brought a smile to Téa's lips; Aurus was quickly reminding her of Joey.

"_Get a hold of yourself, Téa Gardner_," she ordered herself. "_The last thing you need now is to start seeing your friends everywhere_."

"So why are you still standing there?" asked Aurus. "Have a seat, and let's chat. So, where're you from?"

Téa sighed and began to describe Domino, the memories of her friends swirling around her head, as if to taunt her.

* * *

"I'm sorry, Mr. Kaiba," said one of the accountants, as Seto continued to angrily pace the room. "He hasn't returned a single message or taken a single call. He knows you're onto his game, and he's determined to make a clean getaway."

"Not if I can help it…" the CEO vowed, exchanging glances with Mokuba, who had quickly arrived upon hearing the news.

"Mr. Kaiba?" asked Roland, entering the room. "I hate to be the bearer of even more bad news, but unless we retrieve that money soon, there'll be questions raised about the misappropriation of Kaiba Corporation's funds…" He handed his employer an inquiry from the authorities; someone (the thief, no doubt) had the nerve to accuse Seto of squandering away the company's money, and had reported him. It was undoubtedly a delaying tactic.

"I don't believe this!" said Mokuba, reading the documents over Seto's shoulder.

"There's no point in trying to file a report to the authorities when he's beaten us to it," Roland continued. "What are we going to do?"

"I have an idea…" Seto replied, as his eyes narrowed. "Roland, I need to borrow your cell phone."

"My cell phone?"

"This creep is obviously screening his calls," the CEO replied. "Perhaps if I call from your phone, a number he would be unfamiliar with, he just might pick up."

"Of course, Sir," said Roland, handing over his cell phone.

"Mokuba, get ready to lock onto a location," Seto instructed, as he dialed the number.

"I'm on it!" the boy replied.

Seto's idea had worked—the fraud did answer the call, and was immediately greeted by Seto's wrath. He hung up fairly quickly, but that was more than enough time that Mokuba needed to lock onto the cell phone signal.

"Well, now that we know his signal, we'll be able to track him wherever he tries to go!" the boy exclaimed. "Let's see… his name is Minax Karvanius--"

"Obviously an alias…" Seto said, derisively.

"And he's in… Tokyo…" Mokuba went on, amazed. "Hey, that's where Téa was heading!"

Seto froze; he knew where Mokuba would be going with this.

"That's great, Seto!" the boy went on, confirming his brother's prediction. "You can chase down this creep and get a chance to speak to Téa while you're there!" He paused. "You _will_ speak to her, right?"

"My priority is catching this crook," Seto replied. "If time allows, maybe I'll pay her a visit."

"So that's a 'no'…" Mokuba replied, with a sigh. "Seto, you have no idea how upset she was about leaving her friends--"

"I was the one who advised her to stay!" Seto pointed out. "She was the one who left anyway."

"I'm just saying that it would make her day if she saw a familiar face," Mokuba said. "Come on, Seto. Knowing you, it'll take you less than a day to catch that guy, so you'll have plenty of time."

"Speaking of which, while I'm gone--"

"Sure, I'll handle things while you're out talking to Téa. I mean…" the boy added with a grin, as his brother rolled his eyes. "…while you're out chasing that crook…"

* * *

"Our stay in Tokyo will not be long," said the elder Kayser, as he addressed the dancers after the long bus ride. "We only stay at our venues for one night, as most of you are aware. Now, we only have a few days to practice, and we must be absolutely perfect. _Not one mistake_, is that clear?"

Everyone else nodded, though Téa looked confused.

"_I get that they're so prestigious and everything, but I don't know why they'd be so intolerant of a mistake…_" she thought to herself. "_Ah, well… So what if they're perfectionists? I can hold my own with them, without making any mistakes._"

Aurus seemed to notice the look on Téa's face.

"Hey, I know he sounds a bit harsh…" he said. "But you _are_ in the big leagues now. I'm sure you can handle it, though; he wouldn't have chosen you to join up, otherwise."

"But I've never known anyone to be so… overzealous about not making even a little mistake…" Téa replied, quietly. "_No one except Seto Kaiba_," she added to herself, and then chided herself for thinking about him again.

"Then go out there and show him that there's nothing for him to worry about," Aurus replied. "Don't make any mistakes, and you'll be fine."

"That's easy for you to say; you've been here before," Téa replied, with a smile.

"Don't worry about it, either; word has it that you're a natural."

"Are you two paying attention back there!?" asked the elder Kayser.

Aurus and Téa nodded.

"Alright," the instructor continued. "You'll find your costumes waiting for you in your hotel rooms. Practice begins tomorrow. Aurus, Miss Gardner, may I see you two for a second?"

"Sorry," Aurus said to his cousin. "She was a bit unnerved by the 'no missteps allowed,' so I was trying to--"

"I understand," said Kayser, and he turned to Téa. "I'm sorry if I came across as a bit of a tyrant there. You have to understand that we simply cannot afford any errors. Our sponsors aren't forgiving of errors."

"Yeah, and we kinda depend on them for food, lodgings, costumes, travel… pretty much everything we need, including your salary," Aurus added, with another Joey-like grin. "It's because of them we can live in semi-luxury."

Téa nodded, smiling as well.

"Come on, Téa," Aurus went on. "I'll show you to your room; you're sharing one with Caerii; we're in semi-luxury, but not enough luxury for individual rooms."

"Caerii?" Téa asked, as they traversed through the corridors. "I don't think she's going to be too thrilled with the idea…"

"Oh, she'll get over it," said Aurus. "She takes a while to warm up to; take it from me. Here you are; you can leave your luggage in there and then join us at the restaurant for dinner in fifteen minutes."

"Thanks," she replied, and she proceeded to set up her things in her half of the room. Her costume was there; it was a brilliantly colored outfit of oranges, reds, and yellows. Streams of fabric, resembling embers covered the wrists, ankles, and neck of the outfit, which would move with her as she danced.

She admired the outfit for a moment, and then pulled out her handheld computer. Mokuba had been right; she had flawless internet access here, too. She began to draft a letter to send to her friends.

"_Hi, everyone_," she typed. "_I just arrived in Tokyo. I've made a new friend already; he reminds me so much of Joey. I'm taking it easy tonight, but the work begins tomorrow. This room has a beautiful view of the city; it almost reminds me of back home. I'll keep in touch. With love, from Téa._"

Téa paused as she typed out the carbon copy list. Of course, she was going to send copies to her family and friends, but she was debating on whether or not to add Seto's email to the list.

"What've you got there?" asked a voice behind her, making her jump.

"Oh… hi, Caerii," she said. "It's nothing… just one of those pocket organizer things…" She didn't want to give away what it really was; it was personal, after all, and she didn't feel that anyone else had to know.

"Uh-huh…" the redhead replied, raising her eyebrows as Téa put the handheld away.

"So…" said Téa, trying to change the subject. "How long have you been with the troupe?"

"My brother and I have been with them for about three years now," she replied. "We've dedicated our lives to this. Traveling from city to city has become a way of life now. And with a view like this in every window, I don't really mind at all…"

She crossed to the balcony.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," agreed Téa. "I've done a bit of traveling with my friends, but nothing like this…" She trailed off as Caerii frowned, squinting at something. "Something wrong?" she asked her.

"Yeah… what do you suppose _that_ thing is?" asked the redhead.

Téa took a glance out the window and had to consciously prevent herself from allowing her mouth to drop open in amazement. She could just barely see what Caerii was looking at.

It was a jet, built to resemble a Blue-Eyes White Dragon.


	5. Unexpected Arrivals

"_Seto Kaiba… here!?_" Téa thought to herself. Somehow, it defied all logic. Dare she get her hopes up? Dare she assume that he had come here now because he hadn't had the chance to talk to her before?

"It looks like someone's arriving at this hotel… What is that thing, anyway?" asked Caerii. "It looks like an alligator with wings!"

"I'm going to check it out," Téa bluffed.

"Wait up; I'll go with you."

Téa flinched; the last thing she wanted was for someone to be present while she was talking to Seto. The conversation would be difficult enough without having to deal with spectators.

As they headed out into the corridor, Téa was further dismayed to see that the other dancers were interested in checking out the new arrival. The other dancers began to gather in the lobby as Seto entered, and he immediately rolled his eyes upon noticing them.

Seto proceeded to the concierge's counter to have a word with him as Téa pushed her way to the front of the crowd.

"Who is that?" asked Hesper, unimpressed.

"Isn't he that game designer from Domino?" asked Aurus. "Aww, man; what's his name again? Hey, Téa; you said that you were from Domino, right? Do you know who he is?"

"_Is it possible to know someone and not know them at the same time?_" Téa asked herself, still trying to come to grips with the knowledge that he was, in fact, here.

"He's Seto Kaiba," said another dancer, before Téa could respond.

"Has he come to see the show?" asked a third dancer. "If he has, we can use that for advertising, can't we? If the show is good enough for a famous game designer, it might mean even more publicity…"

"What is going on here!?" asked the elder Kayser, arriving. "Shouldn't you all be at the restaurant?"

"But we just saw--" one of the dancers began.

"It doesn't matter," said Kayser, ushering them all out of the door. "Come on. Move, move, move! Our reservations aren't eternal, you know; you can gawk all you want later. But for now, stick to the schedule."

"_Not exactly Mr. Charm anymore, I see_," Téa thought to herself, somewhat derisively. He had been far more charismatic when he had showed up at her dressing room, asking her to join. Then again, that _had_ been all but a sales pitch.

"Téa, are you coming?" asked Aurus.

"Um, yeah; just hold on," she replied, pretending to turn back. "I forgot something upstairs; you go on ahead!"

"The Tessurcas and I will wait outside for you!" he replied, with a grin.

Of course, she didn't go back to the room; she was waiting by the elevators. After everyone had cleared the lobby, Téa began to head back, but nearly collided with Seto, who was heading for the elevators.

"Watch it, Gardner!" he said.

"Is that how you always greet people, Kaiba?" she asked, unable to feel slightly sarcastic.

"I didn't come here for a meet-and-greet," he replied. "I'm here to track down someone who seems intent on giving me and my company a hard time."

"Oh…" Téa replied, her hopeful feelings fading away to nothing. So he hadn't come to talk to her, after all. She had to face the fact that it had been too much to hope for. "Well, I… I hope you catch whoever it is…"

Seto sensed this; he had spoken without thinking. But he didn't know what to make of the situation. He could just imagine what Mokuba would be thinking if he saw the scene. He wanted to leave, but for some reason, Téa's expression begged some sort of response from him.

"Listen, Gardner; I was too busy to make it to your send-off," he said, unaccustomed to this sort of conversation. "So let me just say now that I hope you find this little dancing venture of yours worthwhile." He wanted to be out of this situation so badly; apathy and sympathy were waging an all-out war in his mind. "_She doesn't realize that my work is the most important thing right now_," he thought. "_I can't afford to go soft and talk to her like this; that crook could get away, and my company, and my name, would be ruined._"

He tore himself away from the spot and entered one of the elevators.

"Kaiba…" she began. He stopped and turned back, standing in the elevator. But she didn't say anything more; she was unsure if unburdening her heart was the wisest idea. The emotions inside her were a mess. She wanted to talk to him about how she wasn't fully sure about this endeavor. She wanted to yell at him for forever being obsessed with his company and money. She wanted to plead with him… to get him to understand how she felt...

"_Close the door_," Seto's mind ordered, as though he could sense what she wanted to say. "_You can't afford this now; just close the door._"

"Téa!" a voice called from the lobby. It was Aurus. "We're waiting for you; are you coming now, or what!?"

Téa glanced at Seto, who, for some unexplainable reason, was still holding the elevator door open.

"Yes, I'm coming!" she called back. And without another word, she turned away and left.

Seto breathed a sigh and allowed the door to close.

"_That's ended that_," he said to himself, firmly. "_She already built up a new group of friends for herself in typical Gardner fashion…_"

And that was when it struck him as odd that he had ended up at the same hotel as she and her fellow dancers had. He had been following the cell phone signal that Mokuba had traced for him…

"_Impossible_," he thought, with a shake of his head. "_There's no way some dancer could be behind this plot. By the looks of this hotel, they live in enough luxury, and they probably don't even have time for playing games… in which case, they wouldn't even be familiar with Kaiba Corporation…_"

Perhaps it was just a coincidence. But, to be on the safe side, he could always ask her if she noticed anything suspicious.

"_As if she would help you…_" part of his mind snorted with derision. "_After that 'conversation' you just had (if you can even call it that), she wouldn't be willing to aid the likes of you._"

"_Of course she would_," his pride replied. "_She is Téa Gardner; helping people is in her résumé. And she'd especially help you, driven by those feelings of hers. Not that you need it, of course…_"

Would it have mattered whether or not she had feelings for him? Of course not; she would summon her friends from Domino in a heartbeat, and then they'd all be on the case (driving him crazy in the process). No; he was better off alone, just as he always was.

"_Or is there some other reason why you don't want to ask her?_" asked a normally silent part of his mind. "_Are you worried that you might have feelings for her, too?_"

Seto silence the voice there. Never in a million years would it be possible! It was preposterous! And it couldn't happen… could it?

* * *

"You aren't eating anything, Téa," Aurus noticed. "Are you feeling alright?"

"Huh?" she asked, coming back to the present. "Yeah, I'm fine. I just have a lot of stuff on my mind."

"Like…?" Aurus prompted.

"No offence, but it's kind of personal," she said.

"No offence here, either, but seeing as though you're going to be hanging out with us for the next few years of your life…"

"…That's only if I don't get thrown out for dancing out of step…"

"You won't," Aurus assured her. "Believe me, Téa; from what I heard my cousin say about you, the only way you'd leave here is if you get recruited by a better troupe when we arrive on Broadway. Though I'm hoping you wouldn't abandon us just like that…"

"I doubt it…" said Téa, deciding to give only half the story. "My whole problem was saying goodbye to my friends. And I wouldn't leave here knowing that I'd have to go through all of that again…"

There was no point in bringing up her feelings for Seto Kaiba; it was between the two of them (not even Yugi or Joey knew the slightest thing about it, although she expected that Mokuba was somewhat aware of it). And she doubted that there was anything that Aurus could do to change the situation.

"_I should've said something…_" she told herself. "I mean, he was right there, and I just left. At this rate, I can't blame him for not saying anything to me. And I don't even know if I'm going to see him again… but I suppose I should be grateful that he at least wished me good luck. Well, if I ever see him again, I'll just have to tell him exactly how I feel… He's probably never going to talk to me again, but I'll never forgive myself if I don't--"

"Téa, you've got to eat," said Aurus. "Do you have any idea how many calories you burn dancing like this?"

"Of course I do; I was a dancer back in Domino."

"Oh, yeah…"

"_He put his foot in his mouth… just like Joey would…_" she thought, and then she began to eat. It dawned on her that she never did get to send that email; she would have to wait until she found a moment to herself.

She glanced around the room; several of the dancers were deep in conversation as they ate. It was a kinship, she realized. She wasn't a part of it yet, but she hoped she soon would be.

But more than the kinship of dancers, it was taking all of her self control to not get up right where she was sitting, walk back across the road to the hotel, and speak to Seto Kaiba. Knowing what words to say wasn't a problem; it was saying them that was so difficult.

A movement out of the corner of her eye made her turn towards the hotel. She had seen someone go into the building. Her glimpse had been fleeting, and it had been too dark to see the visitor's face, but she was certain that she knew him from somewhere; perhaps he was a Kaiba Corporation worker she had met in the hallway, here to speak with Seto about some latest development in the case.

"You know what, guys?" asked Téa, getting up from the table. "I'm not that hungry after all; I'm heading back to the hotel. I'll see you all at rehearsals tomorrow, OK?"

"If you're sure…" Aurus replied, with a shrug.

"I'll be there in a while," said Caerii in a half-hearted voice, not even looking at her. Hesper didn't even say a thing.

"_By all means, take your time…_" Téa thought, forcing herself not to roll her eyes.

She returned to the hotel, keeping an eye out for the man she had seen coming in. And she found him, facing away from her, speaking to the concierge.

"I'm afraid I don't have the authority to tell you which particular room a guest is staying in, especially when he has requested to be left alone," she overheard the concierge say.

She was intrigued; did someone want to see Seto? He certainly would've given the orders that people steer clear of him. And apparently, someone had some news for him. This would be interesting, to say the least. She crept closer, hiding behind a pillar close to the front desk.

"You can glare at me all you wish," the concierge went on, not intimidated by the man. "I cannot help you in this matter."

The man turned around furiously, and Téa finally saw his face in full view. And she was unpleasantly surprised to see that he wasn't a Kaiba Corporation worker at all; he wasn't even an honest worker. She couldn't explain how, but the notorious Bandit Keith was standing a few yards from her.

Téa quickly turned away, concealing herself fully behind the pillar.

"_Please tell me he didn't see me…_" she pleaded silently. She wasn't sure if Keith would even recognize her, but she was not willing to take that chance.

And then, suddenly, everything hit her like a ton of bricks. Seto had come to this hotel tracking down someone who was stealing his money, certain that he had the element of surprise. And, somehow, Bandit Keith had turned up, seemingly out of the blue, and was apparently searching for Seto. It could only mean that the card shark knew that Seto was onto him. And not only did it mean that Seto no longer had the element of surprise, it also meant that he was in huge trouble, for there was no way he could know that _Keith_ was onto _him_.

But there was only once chance right now. Keith didn't know where in the large hotel Seto was. Téa didn't know, either, but for Seto's sake, she would have to find out before Bandit Keith did.

Otherwise, she (or anyone else) would never get the chance to talk to Seto Kaiba again; Keith would make sure of that.


	6. The First Dance

"_Come on, Téa_," she ordered herself. "_You can't lose it now; you have to find some way to warn Kaiba before Keith gets to him first…_"

"I'm heading to my room," Keith grumbled. "If anyone asks for me, send them up there."

"As you wish, Sir."

"_Great—he has accomplices…_" thought Téa, as Keith headed for the elevators. "_And if they show up, then Kaiba's really in trouble…_" She took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. "_Should I follow Keith and find out where he's staying? …No; I can't risk him seeing me…_"

That was when she remembered the handheld computer.

"_Kaiba, something's up_," she typed. "_I think that your quarry is on to you; I just saw Bandit Keith in the lobby. I think he's after you; he was trying to figure out where someone's room was._"

She sent the message, and received a reply almost immediately.

"_Very hilarious._" Even his emails were blatantly sardonic.

"I can't _believe_ him!" Téa exclaimed, startling the concierge. She didn't even notice the patronizing look he gave her as she sent another message.

"_I'm telling you the truth; I saw him with my own eyes!_"

"_Why should I believe you?_"

"_Why would I lie!?_"

But this time, there was no reply. She was worried for a second; what if Keith had somehow found him? Her fears were eventually proved to be groundless, for she finally received a message.

"_Top floor, grand balcony, now,_" came the reply.

After making sure that Keith was nowhere near the elevators anymore, Téa took one to the top floor, determined to get there before Seto changed his mind and decided not to meet after all. She ignored the pain in her ears from the quick increase in height; she knew what Bandit Keith could be capable of. And after nearly going mad from the spell of the Millennium Rod, he was liable to do anything.

She made her way to the balcony. Seto was standing there, his back to her, but he obviously heard her footsteps as she approached.

"I am not amused, Gardner," he said.

"Amused!?" she repeated, in disbelief. "Do you honestly think that my warning about Keith has some kind of benefit for me?"

Seto didn't want to voice his reply: that maybe she was trying to win his favor, so that he would be grateful and more open to the prospect of a relationship. What was she thinking?

"It's just the opposite, Kaiba," she went on. "If he finds out that I'm spying on him… well, I don't want to know what's going to happen! Do you realize the risk I'm putting myself in? I'm trying to help because I care about you; and face it—I'm one of the few people who do!"

"Are you going to go into the speeches again…?"

"It doesn't seem like there's much of a point," she replied, bitterly. "You never even listen. But I'm not so heartless that I wouldn't help, and that's why I'm here. Kaiba, Bandit Keith is very dangerous. Yugi told me all about how he had gone crazy while under Marik's control. He--"

"I'm very well aware of Keith's madness," Seto replied. "I did face him once when he tried to kidnap Mokuba several months ago. I put Keith in his place, and he vowed revenge."

"Well, unless you do something, he's going to follow through with that vow," Téa warned. "You need to get out of here, Kaiba."

"Seto Kaiba doesn't run."

"If Seto Kaiba doesn't run, he isn't going to be here for very long!" she retorted. "Why aren't you concerned!?"

"My major concern, Gardner, is for my younger brother. Since Mokuba is in Domino, and you claim that Keith is here, I don't have to worry. I _am_ concerned for my company, but now that I know what I'm dealing with, I know that can handle it with very little effort."

"What about me?" she asked, in a small voice. "You aren't concerned about me?"

"Stay out of Keith's way," he advised (in Téa's opinion, dodging the question altogether). "Just stay with your new little group of friends; I'm sure you'll be fine with them around to look after you."

He hadn't realized that he had struck a deep nerve. Téa tried not to let it on; his back was still to her, so he did not see her silent tears. And she was beginning to regret ever having feelings for him. It was the apathy of the other dancers that was upsetting her; Seto Kaiba was as apathetic as they were, and this was with some knowledge of her feelings. Perhaps it would be best to just forget about him.

Slowly, she backed away. He must not have been prepared for her to leave so soon, because he turned at the sound of her footsteps, and was surprised to see her in tears.

"What's gotten into you?" he asked.

"I don't have a 'new little group of friends,' Kaiba," she said. "Aurus is the only one who's even bothering to make me feel welcome. The rest of them are acting just like you!"

Seto's eyes moved slightly; he had heard and had processed the comment, but was choosing not to reply to it. He had been forcefully reminded of his days at the orphanage, when he and Mokuba had often felt ignored and unwelcome.

"You just don't get it," she went on. "You just don't understand what other people think and feel, do you?! I thought that things were changing between us, Kaiba. I thought that we were finally beginning to understand each other on some level, but I guess I was wrong. I warned you about Bandit Keith because I care about you; I care about you very deeply. I thought you knew that; I thought you knew about how I felt about you. But you don't know, and you really don't seem to care, either. You don't care about _anyone_ else outside your own little world, and you don't let anyone in. Goodness only knows why I was stupid enough to…" She trailed off. There was no point, besides getting everything off of her chest; he probably wasn't going to listen to her anyway.

He didn't say a word. His face remained emotionless in the moonlight.

"I always considered you as a friend, even though you never would admit to having friends," she said. "I haven't forgotten how you lent me your trenchcoat to ensure that I wasn't bitten by the venomous spiders when we were trapped in that cellar. That trenchcoat-lending person is my friend. He's the one I have feelings for. He's the one I wanted to see. He's the one I wanted to warn. And it seems that I was too late; he's been permanently suffocated by selfishness."

It was a mystery in its own right as to how Seto Kaiba could stay so silent and still in a situation such as this. One would have thought that Téa was speaking to a marble sculpture, as the moonlight gave his skin a white glow.

"I tried to stop this from happening, but my friend is gone," Téa said, coldly. "All that's left is Gozaburo's stepson."

Everything fell apart at those words: all of their past amiable meetings, the half-hearted greetings, whatever feelings there had been… Everything vanished into oblivion as Téa spoke those forbidden words. It was as though the flawless marble sculpture had suddenly shattered.

"Have fun teaching Keith a lesson all on your own," said Téa. "I'll stay out of your way, and that, I'm sure, is the way you'd prefer it to be."

She turned and walked away as the young man's anger began to increase.

"Gardner, I demand that you take that back!"

She turned back, surveying him with slight satisfaction. She was the marble sculpture now, standing serenely as though she were Joan of Arc, glaring at those who were about to sentence her.

"I'll take it back when I know that my friend is still alive." She replied.

"Gardner, I'm serious!" Seto countered.

"That makes two of us," she said, coolly.

She turned to go, but Seto seized her arm.

"Gardner, you are not leaving until you take it back," he said. "No one can associate me with Gozaburo!"

"I thought you didn't care about what anyone else thought, Kaiba," she said. "Why does my opinion matter?"

She caught him off-guard. Not even _he_ could explain why her opinion mattered. In the days of Duelist Kingdom, her opinion hadn't mattered at all. So why should now be any different?

He didn't know; he was uncharacteristically lost, and his eyes were betraying him. And Téa realized, upon seeing them, that he was still searching for answers. And that could only mean one thing…

"He _is_ still alive, isn't he?" she asked, her expression softening as well. "In that case, Kaiba, I do take it back. I'm sorry."

He said nothing, but he did release her arm.

"He's just in a coma," she went on. "You know, Kaiba, if he ever wakes up, you should have a long talk with him. Maybe you'll realize one day that your strategy of going at everything alone isn't all that great. But until then, I hope that you defeat Bandit Keith. I am worried about what he's going to do to you and _him_. After all, if you go… so does _he_."

"Your colleagues are coming back," he said, as he glanced over the balcony, pretending not to hear her (though she knew very well that he had done so). "You'd better get back before they think you've gone missing."

"I'll be busy from tomorrow onwards; we'll be practicing nonstop, and then we're leaving right after our performance to our next destination… in Buenos Aires," she added, almost as an afterthought. "So… I probably won't be seeing you again for a while… not until I go back to Domino, at least, so I'll be staying out of your way, right? I hope you solve the case, and that nothing happens to you… or _him._"

Suddenly, she remembered how, at her send-off, she had hugged each of her friends goodbye. Before she could second-guess herself (and before Seto could protest), she had hugged him for but a moment, and let go before he could have said or done anything.

"What--!?" he began.

"That was for _him_," she explained. "I always hug my friends goodbye."

With that, she retreated to her room, leaving behind a very perplexed and bothered CEO.

* * *

Téa had felt some sort of closure with that hug. She had, after all, said mostly everything that she had wanted to say. She hadn't been able to fully say that she was in love with him, but, at this point, it didn't seem as though it would have mattered. Perhaps somewhere along the line (months or even years into the future), she would tell him.

She found it difficult to think about anything else besides dancing for the next few days. Since she was the new arrival, the others tended to be overly critical of her. The "not one mistake" policy loomed over her head like a thundercloud, but she practiced uncomplainingly.

Seto Kaiba, in the meantime, was trying to track down the whereabouts of Bandit Keith. But he was annoyed that the phone signal that Mokuba had traced did not seem to be leading him to the card shark; he was instead being led all over Tokyo. He knew that Téa had spoken the truth, for he had caught a glimpse of the thief. And he was determined that Keith would not be let off easy for stealing his money, and then trying to frame him.

And Téa, as she had promised, was staying out of his way. He hadn't seen her since she gave him the hug, the memory of which still perplexed him to no end. But with his search going nowhere, he realized that on the night of the performance, he had no better place to be.

Téa was more nervous than she had ever been before as she peered into the audience from behind the curtain. The place was filled, but that didn't concern her. She was troubled by the thought of making a mistake, which would undoubtedly end her career in a heartbeat.

"Don't worry about it," Aurus whispered to her.

And she tried not to do so, as the show began. She launched herself into the stylized strides, steps, leaps, and pirouettes, sneaking glances at her colleagues and the audience, seeking feedback.

"Were you holding out on us all this time!?" Aurus asked out of the corner of his mouth, visibly impressed.

She smiled in reply, but her expression soon changed to that of astounded surprised when she saw a familiar trenchcoat in the audience.

"_He came!_" she thought to herself.

Unfortunately, her joy was quickly eclipsed by worry as she soon realized that he wasn't the only one who had come; in the other end of the audience, malice etched into his face, was Keith.

She didn't bother to wonder whether Seto had tracked Keith here, or if he had arrived out of his own free will. The situation still stood that the two were dangerously close to each other. And it would only be a matter of time until one of them noticed it, signaling disaster.


	7. The Pendant

"_Don't panic… whatever you do, do not panic_," Téa ordered herself. To panic would mean to dance out of step, which would not be tolerated. And aside from that, a wrong step would make her stand out; the last thing she wanted was for Bandit Keith to notice her.

Somehow, she managed to maintain her composure throughout the length of the show. Relieved that it was all over, Téa was barely listening to the praises that her colleagues were showering upon her.

"Aurus," she said. "I need to speak to someone from the audience."

"Against protocol," Aurus informed her, quietly. "We're not supposed to mingle with the audience except at special meet-and-greets; we'll be having one in Chicago."

"Chicago doesn't work; there's someone I need to meet right now."

"Look, I'd gladly cover for you," he said. "But my cousin wants to have a word with you right now…"

"Ah, there you are Miss Gardner!" said the elder Kayser, beaming as he had been the night he had invited her to join the troupe. "I knew it! I knew it all along! You'll be the greatest! I just know that you're going to learn all of the other dances just as well as you did with this one!"

"Other dances?" Téa asked, incredulously.

"You didn't look over our whole website, did you?" asked Kayser, with a grin. "No two shows are ever the same."

"How… wonderful…" Téa mumbled, and then she thought to herself, "_Just when I think I've learned this routine down cold… I knew I should've done more research before I signed on._"

But she was only half-exasperated, for she had a wonderful time on that stage. She would've been far happier if it hadn't been for the fact that Seto and Keith were somewhere in close proximity to each other.

Unobtrusively, she gathered her purse and sent Seto a quick email without even removing her handheld from the purse. Kayser didn't even notice; he was leading her to the other dancers, who were all suddenly welcoming her with open arms. Even Hesper, who hadn't said a word to her before, was congratulating her, as was Caerii, who also seemed impressed.

"Never would have guessed that you had it in you…" said Hesper, with a nod of approval.

"He's right," added Caerii. "Sorry we were so aloof; we honestly didn't think that you'd last."

"Hey—I've been telling them all along that you'd be great," Aurus pointed out, not allowing himself to be forgotten so easily.

"Wow… it's nice to be appreciated…" Téa replied, with a smile. "You know, I think I'm finally going to like it here."

"I hope you mean here with the troupe," said Kayser, checking his watch. "Our flight to Buenos Aires leaves in about three hours."

"What!? We're leaving now!?"

"We have to practice for the new show," Kayser explained. "Alright, all of you—it's time to head back to the hotel, pack up, and get moving!"

"The inside joke about the Dancers of the Elements is that our travel seems to invoke a whirlwind," explained Aurus.

"I believe it…" she replied, realizing that she wouldn't even get a chance to talk to Seto.

"Oh, don't worry about it too much," he added, noticing the look on her face. "My cousin's promised us that after our Buenos Aires performance, we'll be taking a break for a few days until it's time for the next show."

"That's a relief!" Téa smiled. "Where're we going for vacation?"

"I think I heard him mention that we'd get to see the Aztec ruins and stuff, so I'm guessing Mexico."

Téa nodded.

* * *

Seto, in the meantime, had received Téa's email, and quickly found where Keith was hiding. Concealing himself carefully in the crowd, he approached the card shark, who was on his cell phone, completely unaware of the CEO's presence.

"I don't care what he thinks; you tell him that he has to go," Keith snarled. "I can't make it; I have other business to attend to in Vancouver."

"_Excellent_," thought Seto. "_That was all I needed to hear_."

Once again, the element of surprise would be his. A confrontation here in the theater would not go unnoticed, and Keith, the coward that he was, would probably flee before Seto would have a chance to say anything.

Seto immediately began to make an unnoticed retreat. He knew where he would be going; his private jet would get him to Vancouver before Keith even had the chance to leave Tokyo.

His thoughts were diverted by another email from Téa.

"_We're on the move again, it seems_," she had said in the message. "_We're leaving immediately for Buenos Aires. I don't know how long it will be until we meet again, but I hope that everything goes alright for you, Kaiba. Be careful while you're out chasing Keith, okay? And tell my friend to be careful, too; look after him, even though you probably can't stand him._"

Seto's eyes narrowed involuntarily as he recalled that hug she had suddenly given him when they had last spoken to each other. He still didn't know what to make of that hug; annoyance mixed with bewilderment and confusion at the very memory of it. Would he have pulled away if she hadn't released him from the embrace so quickly? He didn't know, nor did it really matter at this point. And there was a part of him that was almost afraid to find out.

* * *

Téa's journey to Buenos Aires was uneventful. After the flight, she was once again riding in the bus, to be taken to the hotel. Every chance she had, she sent messages to all of her friends, and reading their replies. Her chances to do this were not as frequent as before; now the other dancers were actually holding conversations with her, and she found that she had to relish every moment she had to herself.

"_It's no surprise that they think you're great, Téa_," Yugi had said. "_We knew it all along. But it's what you mentioned about Bandit Keith that bothers me… Like you pointed out, Kaiba might be in more trouble than he realizes. Hopefully, you'll be alright, since you're leaving with the other dancers. But I know Kaiba, and he's likely to charge ahead and land right in trouble. I suppose he refused your help when you offered it, didn't he?_"

She stopped reading at this point. Seto hadn't flat-out refused her help; she had assumed that he would have done so, and therefore, she hadn't bothered to ask. And he hadn't recoiled from the embrace she had given him… not that she had waited for him to do so.

She leaned back in her seat with a sigh. She hadn't told any of her friends about the hug; they would be stunned (and, in Joey's case, horrified). They weren't likely to welcome the prospect of her falling in love with Seto Kaiba.

Her thoughts were diverted as Aurus took the seat beside her.

"What's that thing?"

"Pocket organizer," she said again. "It was a going-away present from my friends."

"Awesome… you know, we should make those a requirement for the whole troupe," he mused. "That way, no one can conveniently forget that rehearsals start at a particular time. Once the season gets underway, some of the stragglers start showing up late to rehearsals." His eyes narrowed, in mock-suspicion. "You'd better not be one of them, Téa…"

Téa smiled; it was impossible to be down in the dumps with Aurus around.

"Well, there's no need to worry," she assured him. "The only place you might see me coming in late is when we get to New York, and that'll be because I'll be sightseeing somewhere."

"Lucky for you that I'm always the one in charge of making sure that everyone gets in on time," he replied. "I can always look the other way… Oh, we're here. Looks like my cousin is going to make another one of his grand speeches…"

Sure enough, the elder Kayser addressed the dancers.

"The rest of the day is yours, so you're free to go wherever you want," he said. "Rehearsals continue tomorrow. Aurus, you're in charge of making sure that everyone remembers."

Aurus glanced at Téa with a look that said, "What did I tell you…?"

After she and Caerii had left their luggage in the room, Téa returned to the streets of Buenos Aires. She was savoring the chance to be alone, as she strolled through the antique markets. She wasn't planning on buying anything, but after being friends with Yugi (and Atem) for so long, the past seemed to hold a new interest for her.

"Téa!" called Aurus. "Hey, I didn't know you were into this old stuff, too!"

The smile she gave him wasn't completely genuine; she had wanted the chance to get lost in her own thoughts. It was true that she hadn't enjoyed it when the others were ignoring her, but now things were at the other extreme. Well, she couldn't blame Aurus; he had been acting the same way since he met her.

"Yeah, I guess I'm a bit of an ancient history fan… especially ancient Egypt," she said. "My friends back home were--"

"You into Egyptology, too?" asked Aurus. "One of our fans gave this pendant to my cousin; he thought it was absolutely hideous, so he gave it to me…"

He showed her the pendant he had been wearing. It was a small, golden pendant, but carved upon it was the image of a jackal-headed creature, carved in such a way to inspire awe and fear. The creature's eyes were two fiery rubies, and other precious stones decorated the pendant. But it was the creature itself that unnerved Téa.

"But… that's Anubis!" she gasped, recalling the time when the real Anubis had come to Domino.

"Yeah, I know. I think it's genuine; the lady who gave it to my cousin said that it was an heirloom that her great-grandmother got from an opera singer, who was desperate to get rid of it. She said that it was cursed," he added, with a shrug. "Maybe that's why my cousin gave it to me; he'd love to see me make a fool of myself."

"_I'm not surprised that it's cursed; with Anubis involved, I wouldn't go near it_," she thought, fighting back the instinct to warn Aurus about it. Finally, she asked him, "How long have you had that?"

"This thing? I've had it for about three years," he said, and he sensed her thoughts slightly. With a grin, he added, "No; nothing's happened to me yet, so as far as I can tell, there is no curse."

Téa nodded, slightly nervous, as she glanced at the items for sale in the marketplace.

"_Anubis is gone_," she told herself, as she and Aurus looked around the inventory. "_Yugi, Atem, and Kaiba defeated him when he showed up in Domino. Pegasus was confident that he wouldn't be able to come back, and he's more in tune to these things than the rest of us…_"

It was odd trusting the words of Maximillion Pegasus, and she hoped that she wouldn't regret it.

Pushing the thoughts of Anubis out of her mind, she continued with her window shopping for a couple more hours. After she had looked around enough, she and Aurus returned to the hotel.

Aurus said his goodbyes to her and went to speak with Hesper, who was reading a book in the lobby.

"Caerii just came back," Téa heard Hesper say to Aurus. "She went on another one of her shopping sprees again…"

Téa didn't bother to listen. She took a quick elevator ride to her floor and was approaching her room when she heard a piercing scream emit from within it.

"Caerii!?" she asked, running to the room. "Caerii, are you alright--!?"

Her eyes widened as she beheld the same sight that Caerii was beholding. Both of Téa's suitcases, along with one of Caerii's, had been dragged out into the middle of the room, their contents scattered haphazardly everywhere.

"I don't believe this!" Téa exclaimed, horrified and infuriated at the same time. "Who could have done this!?"

Caerii turned to her, her expression set as though she had just seen a ghost.

"It was a gnome," she said, in a stunned voice.

"What!?" asked Téa, hardly daring to believe it.

"I walked in about twenty seconds before you did and saw this… creepy-looking thing rooting through our stuff. It ran out to the balcony and jumped the moment I screamed."

Téa and Caerii both looked over the balcony.

"There it is!" Caerii shrieked. She pointed to a small creature, walking sideways into some shrubbery. "Did you see that!?"

"I saw it… but I don't believe it," said Téa, amazed.

First, it had been the Anubis pendant, and now this gnome. Something strange was going on, and she was somehow caught in the middle of it.


	8. More and More Mysterious

"We should report this to the front desk," said Téa.

"What are we going to tell them?" asked Caerii, in disbelief. "That we were robbed by a gnome…?"

"Well, I suppose we could…" Téa began, but trailed off. It _did_ sound too crazy.

"Exactly," said Caerii. "But I think we should take inventory to make sure that nothing's missing."

"I don't know what that thing would want…" said Téa. "I'm not carrying any food with me. All I have in my suitcases are clothes, books, and photos."

"Maybe it likes shiny things, and it was after that pocket organizer of yours?"

"No; I always carry that with me," Téa replied, gathering her things. "It doesn't look like I'm missing anything. How about you?"

"Nope," she replied, sifting through the mess. "But I wonder what it was looking for…"

"Forget that," said Téa. "I want to know how it got in here; what's to stop it from coming back?" She paused as an idea came to her. "Hey, Caerii? Can you keep an eye on my stuff? I think I need to take another walk."

* * *

Seto Kaiba may as well have been a marble statue again as he waited for his quarry. A few hours after his arrival in Vancouver, he had found Keith and proceeded to tail him. Seto moved with the stealth and silence of a tiger; Keith had no idea that the CEO was so close. And when Keith ended up in a large park, obviously waiting to meet some sort of contact, Seto hid himself behind a large fountain. Dusk began to descend upon the city, and Keith (along with Seto) was getting visibly impatient as his contact refused to show up.

Seto's thoughts turned to his younger brother. Hopefully, Mokuba wasn't too worried about Seto's prolonged absence; Seto had sent him several emails detailing what had been going on (but he had been careful to leave out the detail of Téa's hug; Mokuba wouldn't have allowed him to forget it anytime soon).

Tired though he was, Seto refused to give in to so much as a yawn. A slight breeze caught his trenchcoat and attempted to tousle his hair, but he didn't move. The moving trenchcoat went unnoticed; concealed within the shadow of the fountain, he may as well have been invisible.

After several more minutes of waiting, Seto glanced behind him to check the time on a tall clock tower. But, to his utter shock, he found his view blocked by a man standing only a couple yards away, staring in his direction.

The young man's heart faltered ever so slightly as he recognized the other man. The bald head and haunting eyes were unmistakable; it was the same Rare Hunter that Yugi had defeated in Battle City and won Slifer the Sky Dragon from.

Seto froze. Was the Rare Hunter able to see him? He thought that he had been well-hidden, but if the Rare Hunter came any closer, Seto ran the risk of being discovered.

"You're late, Strings!" Keith snarled.

The bald Rare Hunter cast one more glance into the shadows of the fountain and then walked over to Keith, maintaining his eerie silence. Seto, who had been holding his breath, released a quiet sigh of relief. It wasn't as though he had feared the Rare Hunter; being discovered would have seriously ruined his plans.

"I called you here to tell you that the rendezvous will be going according to plan," said Keith. "We weren't sure if the operation was going to be a success, but things worked out better than we ever could have imagined. It's only a matter of time until Domino will be ours."

Strings still did not say a word. Seto leaned in closer, trying to hear every word.

"I'd like to see the look on Yugi Muto's face when he realizes what's been happening," mused Keith. "He and his crew don't suspect a thing; I got inside information from our Domino contact. She's been a bit late with her messages, though; I guess they've been keeping more tabs on her for some of the recent incidents at Kaiba Corporation."

The CEO's eyes blazed. Was one of his workers a traitor? It certainly wouldn't have been the first time such a thing had happened. But then he realized the implications of the situation.

"_Mokuba_!" his mind exclaimed. With Seto absent from Domino, it would be only too easy for whoever the traitor was to do something to the raven-haired boy. He knew that Mokuba was fine for the moment; he had been exchanging emails with his brother a mere hour ago. All the same, Seto realized that he would have to alert Roland about this as soon as possible.

"Are you just going to stand there in eternal silence, Strings!?" the card shark snapped at the other man. "You're driving me crazy; I don't know how Ishtar managed to put up with you! Look, you'd better show up at the rendezvous next week! Did that, at least, get through your head!?"

He still received no reply, and Bandit Keith turned away, muttering furiously under his breath. Despite himself, Seto smirked at the thief's frustrations; it was times like these that he relished tackling his problems alone. Here, Seto was free to carry out whatever counter maneuver he came up with, and Téa Gardner, thousands and thousands of miles away right now, wouldn't be able to insist on helping.

"_And yet she cared enough about you to offer_," the normally silent part of his mind reminded him.

And now Seto flinched. Why was he thinking about Téa now, of all possible times!?

"_You can't escape that fact_," the voice went on. "_But this isn't the first time, though is it? What about when you had been bitten by the funnel web spider? She was the only one who was there. She was the only one who never left your side. She was the one who tried to keep you awake._"

What Seto had dismissed then as typical Téa Gardner care was perhaps deeper. She had placed her cards on the table; she had all but told him that she was in love with his caring side. He realized that he would have to deal with this situation. He would have to tell her that this caring side she loved was almost nonexistent, and that this foolishness would have to stop before it drove both of them to insanity.

But that hug… that hug that he had vowed to never speak of to anyone… The more he tried to forget it, the deeper the memory seemed to etch into his mind. His head didn't want the memory, but for some reason, his heart did.

Bandit Keith's voice jolted him from his thoughts.

"What are you looking at, Strings!?" the card shark quipped, as Strings began to look into the fountain shadows. "Is someone there?"

When Strings did not reply, Keith began to walk towards the fountain. But he never knew what hit him; Seto caught the thief in a judo throw. Hurtling through the air, Keith knocked Strings off of his feet, and Seto chose that moment to retreat into the night.

"You had to keep you mouth shut!?" Keith roared at his underling. "Why couldn't you have told me that there was someone there!?"

Once again, there was no answer, which prompted Seto to smirk as he fled. The CEO's trenchcoat whipped among the night breeze. He wasn't upset at having his cover blown; when the card shark had been sent hurtling through the air, a receipt for a plane ticket had fallen from his pocket. And it hadn't escaped Seto's sharp eyes; he had managed to catch a glimpse of it in the moonlight.

He knew exactly where he was heading next.

* * *

"Hey, Téa; I thought you were going to take a rest…" said Aurus, as he saw her walk through the lobby. He had been in the middle of a game of chess with Hesper, but had paused to greet her.

"Later; right now, I have a gnome to catch," she replied.

"OK; good luck with that," the young man replied, turning back to his game. He suddenly did a double take as her words sank in, and he gave her a most bewildered look indeed.

Téa didn't even notice; she was following the creature's path through a small maze of hedges.

"_I almost wish that Kaiba was here; he should have seen this…_" she mused, in spite of herself. "_I wonder if he'd think that it was just another mind trick…_"

Of course, there were other reasons why she wished that Seto Kaiba was with her.

"_How did I ever get this far…?_" she asked herself. And then, as though to answer her, her memory recalled that horrible scene a few months ago… Seto, bitten by a funnel web spider, slipping away before her very eyes…

She suppressed the shudder, but it made her realize that it had taken nearly losing Seto to make her see how much he meant to her. But now, he was still slipping away from her, but in a different sense; his own pride was getting in their way, refusing to allow him to feel the emotions that she knew he had.

"_Would he have stayed by my side if __I__ had been the one to be bitten by the spider that day?_" she asked herself, forgetting all about the gnome as she stood still in the hedge maze.

She wasn't sure. Oh, she was certain that Seto would not have left her if there had been even the slightest chance that she would have pulled through. After all, he had saved her from drowning only a few hours before the spider incident. But even after Seto had fallen into a venom-induced coma, she had not left him, and that was what she was doubtful of; Seto didn't seem like the type to stand by someone who had no hope of pulling through. Perhaps he would've simply taken her back to her friends, regretting that the event had occurred.

Of course, there was no real way of knowing. And Téa had to admit that those were not circumstances that she wanted to be in.

A rustling of the hedges reminded her of her quest. She made her way through more of the maze. She eventually found what she was looking for. In one of the corridors of the maze, the gnome, no bigger than a foot high, was standing, motionless by one of the hedges. Téa slowly crept up behind, it but the creature still didn't move a muscle.

"_It's fake!_" she realized. "_It was some sort of mechanical gnome! But why in earth would someone send a robotic gnome to dig through our stuff? Either these are some insanely overzealous thieves we're dealing with, or there's more to this than meets the eye…_"

She inspected the gnome without touching it; the last thing she wanted to do was to get her fingerprints on it and remove the guilty party's prints at the same time. There was no visible logo of any company on the gnome, and she had to admit that the prospect of a fake gnome was something rather reminiscent of Pegasus and his hoard of Toon monsters. However, this made no sense at all; why would Pegasus, a wealthy and busy CEO, have a gnome break into her room and root through her luggage (not to mention Caerii's suitcase, as well)?

Taking out her handheld computer, which had a built in camera, she took a few pictures of the gnome. Perhaps Seto could figure out something about it, assuming he didn't take it as another joke on her part.

Could it have been some sort of bizarre coincidence? Had she simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time?

A rustling of hedges prompted her to seek a hiding place in one of the adjacent corridors of the maze. Maybe now she could get a few answers to this increasingly puzzling scenario.

"Here it is…" said a man's voice. A man, completely unrecognizable to Téa, came and picked up the mecha-gnome. He glanced back at his companion, who had just appeared, and Téa's mouth fell open in horror.

She didn't know the second man by name, but she knew him all too well—the green hair was unmistakable. It was the sullen-face Rare Hunter who had, under Marik's orders, kidnapped her, brought her to Domino Pier, and had her sit trapped, with a crate looming ominously over her head while she had been forced to watch Yugi duel a possessed Joey back in Battle City.

And then, unbidden, her mind spoke to her.

"_It was Kaiba who saved you that day_," the voice inside her said. "_He called for the helicopter to remove the trap, and he was the one who prevented that creep from releasing that crate…_"

She had felt fear that day, and the very presence of this Rare Hunter was beginning to instill fear within her as she watched. And now, as she stared at the enfolding scene, she began to wish more than ever that Seto Kaiba was once again with her.


	9. The Temple

Seto Kaiba was en route to his next destination when he received an email from Téa. Setting his personal jet to autopilot, he glanced at the message.

"_So… the Rare Hunters are in Buenos Aires, too?_" he asked himself. "_This can't be a coincidence; clearly, they're after more than just my money if Keith is sending them all over the world._"

And he, too, remembered Battle City as he read Téa's description of the green-haired man. During the event itself, Seto had rationalized his heroic efforts as simply paying Yugi back for the double duel against Lumis and Umbra. But now, there was a persistent voice in his mind asking, "_Was there another reason why you were so willing to help her?_"

Seto shook his head slightly, as though trying to shake off such a notion. And yet, the prospect of Téa being feet away from the Rare Hunters irked him. Was this concern he was feeling? Well, there was no harm in denying that; mild concern was to be expected after enduring years and years of friendship speeches. Also, Téa was Mokuba's friend, and that was another reason for him to bother.

"_Concern is one thing; practicality is another_," said his pride. "_You need to find some way to get into that Rare Hunter meeting and find out what they're planning. And then you need to put a stop to it, which you won't be able to do if you're going to be chasing Téa Gardner all over the world._"

And, with a sigh, he had to agree. Téa would have to look after herself.

* * *

Téa, in the meantime, was maintaining her post in the corridor of the hedge maze, not daring to move.

"I don't know what Keith is planning with this," said the unknown Rare Hunter. "What's the point of sending us all over the world? How will that help us get revenge on Marik Ishtar, anyway?"

"Don't ask questions," the green-haired one replied. "You know that Keith wants to settle the score with Ishtar himself; he's not going to forget that. And he says that Kaiba owes him, which is why he's going along with this--"

He stopped short. Glancing down upon the paving stones, Téa realized why; the sun was behind her, and was casting her shadow just far enough for it to reach past the corner of the maze corridor she was in—in full view of the Rare Hunters.

Horrified, she didn't stop to consider anything else; she ploughed right through the hedge to a neighboring corridor and ran, praying that she could remember where the maze entrance was. Clearing another hedge, she saw a familiar face walking down that maze corridor.

"Oh, _there_ you are," Caerii said, as Téa narrowly avoided a collision with her. "Why did you run off like that?"

"No time to explain," said Téa, pausing to catch her breath before taking off again. "Come on; we have to get back to the hotel."

She raced back up the path that Caerii had been traveling down on, and the other dancer follower, thoroughly baffled.

"What's going on?" she asked. "Did that gnome have friends or something?"

"You could say that!"

* * *

There was no point in explaining to the other dancers about what she had seen; most likely, they wouldn't even have heard of the Rare Hunters, and would most likely not believe her. Téa wasn't ready for that, especially when she had just won their favor in the previous dance.

She did, however, tell her friends, which led to a late-night round of messaging between them.

"_What are we doing here, sitting quietly like this in Domino when Keith is up to something!?_" Joey had fumed. Téa could just imagine him at his computer, grinding his teeth in frustration.

"_But what can we do?_" Mai had responded. "_Until we know his plan, we can't just head off somewhere; by the time we got to Buenos Aires, the Rare Hunters could have already left._"

"_Whatever it is, I'd feel better about this whole thing if they stayed away from Téa_," said Yugi.

"_Whatever they're up to, I would rather stay out of it," _Téa agreed_. "But they were the ones who sent a gnome up into my room. Maybe Caerii was right; maybe they're after my handheld computer so that they can keep track of how much we know. Keith __was__ at the performance in Tokyo; he might've recognized me…_"

"_But you didn't see Keith in Buenos Aires?_" asked Tristan.

"_No, but I didn't look_," she admitted. "_Kaiba is trying to track him down, but he didn't say where he was going. But I would've seen Kaiba if he had been around; we're staying at the best hotel here in Buenos Aires, and if Kaiba had been here, he would have been staying here, too._"

And so they continued on discussing the case, coming up with several questions, but no answers. This line of conversation continued for the next several nights, after every late-night practice.

And the night of the second performance went as well as the first. Although Téa was just one of many dancers, the others seemed to congratulate her with just as much enthusiasm as a solo artist. Was it simply because she was a newcomer?

"Miss Gardner," said the elder Kayser. "I don't know what we would have done if you hadn't accepted the position. We'd have been short one dancer, and short of one of the greatest talents of our time. You've earned this upcoming vacation more than the others."

"And I used to be the favorite…" Aurus said, in a melodramatic tone. "Thanks a lot, Téa."

She saw the grin behind the obvious façade, and she turned away, amused. That was when she saw the green-haired Rare Hunter and his companion leaving among the crowd.

"_They were here, too?!_" she asked. "_That's so strange; Keith was there at the first show, and now these two showed up here… What is Keith trying to do—have the Rare Hunters take over the arts?_"

Téa pondered over the pieces of the mysterious puzzle. There was Bandit Keith and his scheme to ruin Seto Kaiba, there was a mechanical gnome, and now there were theatergoing Rare Hunters. There had to be some sort of connecting piece, but it was, at the moment, beyond comprehension.

* * *

Téa tried to forget about the Rare Hunters as the troupe arrived in Mexico City. She was here on a short vacation, and she was going to enjoy it. Aurus extended an invitation to Téa for her to join him and the Tessurcas for a sightseeing venture, but Téa politely declined.

"Maybe tomorrow," she offered. "I've already made plans to visit the ruins of one of the Aztec temples."

"Alright, but if you come across any gold coins, don't touch them!" warned Aurus. "They might be cursed!"

"I'll… keep that in mind…" Téa said, with a smile. That was a lot of talk coming from someone who was wearing a supposedly cursed Egyptian pendant.

Saying her goodbyes, Téa took her leave of the others. She wouldn't have minded their company if it hadn't been for the fact that she was going to seize the opportunity to grab some pictures with her handheld computer and send them to her friends.

"_Perhaps somewhere along the line, I'll tell these three about my friends back home and tell them what my computer really is_," she sighed to herself. But for the moment, her friends were her special treasures, and she didn't feel like blending her two worlds together just yet.

She had to admit that it was almost blissful-- being able to procure a moment of peace for herself. There were no dances that needed to be learned, no colleagues to look over her shoulder, and, most importantly, no Rare Hunters.

But as she entered the Aztec ruins, she realized that she would have enjoyed the company of her friends. Téa suppressed a laugh as she imagined Joey and Tristan trying to pull off their best Indiana Jones impressions. And Yugi would have undoubtedly been intrigued by all of this, even if it wasn't related to Ancient Egypt. Atem and his people had their secrets; it would have been fun to explore the secrets of this ancient civilization, too, with her friends.

"_I wonder if they had people who looked like us, too_," she thought, recalling the statues of Sethos and Túaa (the latter having a face that mirrored her own).

And, of course, recalling the face of Sethos brought about the thoughts of the modern-day CEO who resembled him. Oh, she would have loved to explore the ruins with him, but she knew very well that this would be the last place that Seto Kaiba would show up in.

As such, the look of astounded surprise on her face was to be expected after casually glancing into one of the rooms and seeing the young man unconscious upon the stone floor.

"KAIBA!?" she shrieked. "_What on earth could have happened to him!? And what was he doing here?_"

He was alive; that was evident. She knelt beside him and gently shook him. And when that failed to awaken him, she proceeded to dump the contents of her water bottle onto his face.

He awoke with an enraged growl. Anger turned to stunned shock as he registered the face of the young woman beside him.

"What are you doing here!?" he demanded. "You're supposed to be in Buenos Aires!"

"I flew in this morning," she explained. "But what are you doing here—unconscious!?"

She made an attempt to help him to his feet, but he responded by furiously pulling away from her.

"It was that insane Rare Hunter who never speaks a word…" he began, scornfully.

"The Rare Hunters are here, too!?" Téa asked, horrified at the news. "I thought I'd finally gotten away from them, but it seems like they're everywhere! What's going on!?"

"I followed Bandit Keith to Vancouver and overheard that he was having some sort of meeting with the Rare Hunters. A receipt that fell from his pocket revealed that he was coming to Mexico City, so I arrived here first," Seto said, bitterly. "But that silent Rare Hunter saw me spying on Keith. Of course, he never says a word, and so he didn't reveal my identity. But Keith had a feeling that I'd be coming back to spy on him again. I should've seen it coming, but I didn't, and I followed them here, to the ruins of this temple. Somehow that silent Hunter realized that I was tailing them. He separated himself from Keith; I didn't bother to find out where he had gone, since my primary concern was trying to figure out what Keith was up to. Soon afterwards, I felt something hit my head, and the next thing I knew, I woke up here. And why on earth am I telling _you_ all of this!?"

He angrily got to his feet. It wasn't like him at all to explain things to anyone other than Mokuba.

"You think that Rare Hunter knocked you out?" she asked. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine!" he snapped.

Téa recoiled slightly. She wasn't surprised that he was acting like this; this would be considered a normal reaction from him. But it still upset her all the same that her genuine concern was being so casually dismissed.

"I don't think that Keith is aware of what happened," Seto went on. "That Hunter won't talk, and if Keith had heard me fall, he would've come back and either taken me prisoner or finished me off."

"Kaiba, do you really think that this is a good idea?" asked Téa, trying not to think of what would have happened had she walked in to see that latter scenario. "I mean… is it worth risking your life just to get some money back?"

"This isn't about the money," he retorted. "It's about maintaining a respectable name, not to mention that if he gets away with this much, there's every chance that he's going to come back for more money. I have to put a stop to this any way I can."

"Look, I agree that Keith should never be allowed to get away with what he's doing," said Téa. "But I'm worried about you! That Rare Hunter might not talk, but I'm willing to bet that he would've led Keith back here eventually. And if you had been still unconscious…"

"I suppose I should thank you for your concern…?" Seto replied.

"I certainly wouldn't expect you to," she answered. "You're always so--"

Seto clapped a hand over her mouth; she let out a muffled protest until she realized the reason why: footsteps could be heard coming down the outside passageway. Seto silently indicated a pair of ancient Aztec idols, and the two hid behind them in time to see several Rare Hunters walk past the doorway.

"They must be heading to the meeting," Seto predicted, after they had gone. "You'd better get out of here while you still can, Gardner."

Before she could even protest, he had left the room, once again in pursuit of his quarry. Téa stood behind for a moment, trying to decide what to do. He seemed concerned enough that he wanted her to escape, and better judgment seemed to concur. But a heart has a mind of its own, and Téa knew that her heart wouldn't allow her to leave.

Whether he liked it or not, Seto Kaiba wasn't going to be in this alone.


	10. The Meeting

"I thought I told you to leave?" asked Seto, as he looked back upon hearing Téa's footsteps.

"Yes, you did," agreed Téa. "Rest assured that your memory isn't playing any tricks on you." Matching sarcasm with sarcasm seemed to be the best idea at the moment.

Seto wasn't amused, but he knew that trying to convince her to leave would be an impossible task. With a frustrated sigh, he continued on as she followed silently behind him.

Guided only by a small flashlight beam through the dark and dusty stone corridors, they took care to remain on alert for any Rare Hunters who may have been close by. But they came across no one until they reached a central chamber. Bandit Keith was there, addressing the other Rare Hunters. Seto and Téa stayed on one side of the door frame, perfectly silent so that they would be able to hear every word.

"According to our informer," the card shark was saying. "It seems that Seto Kaiba has left Domino in pursuit of us. I have a feeling that he was the one I ran into in Vancouver. However, it's a safe bet that he has no idea where we are, so we may as well proceed with our plans."

Strings blinked; he knew the truth, of course, but he still maintained his silence.

Seto, in the meantime, was smirking in amusement at how his adversaries had clearly underestimated him. Téa rolled her eyes, but paused as she realized that Keith's appearance in Tokyo had not been due to his searching for Seto after all. So why had he shown up?

"Kaiba," she said, in a whisper so quiet that only he could hear. "Don't you think it's strange that--"

He silenced her with a warning glance.

"What about our informer?" asked a voice that Seto recognized as Umbra. "Are we still going to have to give her a portion of our dividends?"

"What do you suggest that we do?" asked Keith. "We need her to keep tabs on Kaiba Corporation, as well as Yugi Muto. At this point, Kaiba and Muto are the only ones capable of stopping us. Thankfully, their whereabouts can be confirmed. Muto is still in Domino, and I'm willing to bet that Kaiba is still searching Vancouver to find out where I'm hiding."

"_Exactly how much are you willing to bet, Creep?_" Seto thought to himself. "_And if I know Gardner, she's probably already filled Yugi and his entourage in on the whole scenario._"

"So we stick to the original plan?" asked Arkana.

"Yes."

"I don't know if that's such a good idea," said the green-haired Rare Hunter. "Someone was spying on us in Buenos Aires; we received an anonymous note telling us to carefully inspect the belongings of one of the dancers."

"A note?" asked Keith. "That's impossible; our informer wouldn't have been able to send you a note. It must be from one of our other insiders."

"Whoever it was, one of the girls in the room must have followed the mecha-gnome we sent to root through everything. We didn't have time for a complete search; the girls came back, but one of them followed the gnome. We didn't see who she was," he man went on.

The card shark frowned.

"Whoever she is, she's too nosy for my liking," he replied. "Keep your eyes open. If she recognizes you, she might try to spy some more."

"And if we catch her?" asked Lumis.

"Bring her straight to me," Keith answered. "I'd like a little word with our detective…"

The sound of cracking knuckles filled the air. Despite himself, Seto glanced at Téa; even in the dim light, she was clearly trembling.

"_Of course; she's still not used to having the truly dangerous on her case_," he thought. "_Well, if my suspicions are true, I have a feeling that she'll learn to live with it soon enough…_"

"As far as I know, she knows too much already," said the green-haired man's companion. "Nobody is supposed to know that the Rare Hunters have regrouped in the first place."

"Then make her one of us," said Arkana. "Give her an offer that she can't refuse. If she doesn't join the Rare Hunters, she could serve as my assistant for my next magic show."

Téa covered her mouth as her stomach gave an involuntary lurch; Yugi had told her all about Arkana and his madness, and she wanted no part of it. Seto recoiled slightly, apparently irked at the prospect of being so close to a girl with an upset stomach.

"Get a grip on yourself," he ordered in an undertone.

"I don't want to be sawed in half!" she replied, visibly petrified.

"Then why don't you just stay out of it like I told you to?"

"Because I don't want anything to happen to you, too," she replied. The sincerity in her voice was unmistakable.

"Just… calm down," Seto replied, slightly thrown off by her remark. "Nothing is going to happen; I refuse to allow it."

Was there a double meaning to those words? True, at first glance, it seemed as though he was vowing that Keith would never get the best of him. But was he also vowing that he wouldn't let the Rare Hunters harm Téa? No; it couldn't be true—he only cared about his company… right?

The Rare Hunters, in the meantime, had progressed with their conversation.

"Whoever this girl is, she won't be too much of a threat, regardless of how nosy she is," said another unknown man. "She couldn't possibly figure out what we're doing."

"Agreed," said Keith. "Now we need to focus on getting the remaining messages from our other insiders; only then can we procure our money."

"I still say that it's a shame that we have to give a share to _her_," said Umbra. "She's not going to use it where she is; I don't see why--"

"Look, it's thanks to Vulsor that we know about Kaiba and Muto's whereabouts," said Keith. "I don't like the idea of giving her the money, either, but if she even catches wind of your treachery, she'll go so far as to betray us. She knows too much; she's officially one of us, Umbra. And this matter is closed; have I made myself clear?"

Seto's eyes narrowed in anger.

"I thought that Vulsor is in prison," said Téa.

"That doesn't stop her from communicating, apparently," the CEO growled. "So _she's_ their inside contact… I should've known that she'd do her best to get revenge."

"But it still doesn't explain why the Rare Hunters keep showing up at our performances," said Téa. "Is that where they meet to exchange information? Do they transfer coded notes to each other while everyone else is preoccupied with watching the dance?"

"Quiet!" Seto ordered, as Keith looked up, prompting the other Rare Hunters to turn around.

"Take a look and see who's out there," the card shark ordered.

Seto didn't bother waiting; he seized Téa's arm and led her away, but she let out an audible yelp.

"It must be that girl!" the green-haired Hunter snarled.

But by the time they had reached the door, Téa had gone; Seto had led her to the safety of one of the other passageways, and was leading her outside. Twilight had fallen over the ruins by this time; unbeknownst to them, they had been in the ruins for hours.

"I'm sorry," she mumbled, after they had found their way out after several anxious minutes. "I really blew it."

"True; I could've found out a lot more information if I had been able to stay longer," the CEO replied, only partially annoyed. "But on the other hand, your little exclamation has masked the fact that I was there, spying on them as well. As long as that's the case, they'll still think that I'm in Vancouver. And, for the moment, that works to my advantage."

"_At least he isn't too upset…_" Téa thought.

"You, on the other hand, have more to worry about than you think," Seto went on.

"Me? Why should I worry? I thought that they didn't see me, thanks to you."

"Have you forgotten that your green-haired friend over there mentioned something about a note tipping him off about you?" Seto asked. "Have you bothered to consider about who sent them that note? Someone is on to you, or doesn't trust you. And don't forget that Keith mentioned insiders."

"What are you trying to say…?" asked Téa, her eyes wide.

"There must be at least one member of your dance troupe who is either a member of the Rare Hunters, or affiliated with them," Seto replied. "I'm willing to bet that there's more than one person in on this. Someone might be keeping tabs on you, and if they report that you were at this temple, it won't take much for Keith to put two and two together."

"Luckily, nobody knew that I'd be here today."

"Are you certain?" Seto asked.

"Well, I guess I _did_ tell the other three dancers of fire…" Téa trailed off as Seto's eyes narrowed. She knew what he was thinking, but it couldn't be true! It couldn't be Aurus; he was the only true friend she had! If there was an informer, it'd have to be one of the Tessurcas. But that didn't make any sense; the gnome had invaded Caerii's suitcase, too…

"I think you have a reason to worry."

"No; it just _couldn't_ be them!" she said. "It must be one of the other element dancers spying on us!"

Seto rolled his eyes and muttered something about naiveté.

"Kaiba, just because _you_ don't trust anyone, it doesn't mean that there aren't people out there worth trusting!" she said.

"Look, _you_ were the one who was shivering as though you were in the Arctic," Seto reminded her. "Unless you want to end up as a Rare Hunter (or that crazed magician's assistant), I suggest that you watch yourself."

She glanced at him at that moment. Deep down, she wanted to ask him if he was going to help her.

"_You won't let them get me, will you?_" she mentally asked. She knew that if Seto Kaiba vowed to defend someone (usually Mokuba), he would stop at nothing to ensure that person's safety. But was she worth defending in Seto Kaiba's view, or was she as expendable as the rest of the world?

"Look," Seto went on. "Keep a low profile. Don't go wandering around anymore, even if you see any gnomes, unicorns, or any other nonexistent creatures. Can you give me the itinerary of your dance troupe?"

"Of course I can…" she said, puzzled. "But why would you want it?"

"If my instincts are correct, and that Keith _has_ an inside contact in the troupe, it stands to reason that he or the Rare Hunters will follow the troupe wherever it goes," Seto explained. "We just need to find out who their contact is, and how they slip the messages to them."

"I couldn't begin to tell you how," Téa admitted. "We're not allowed to mingle with the audience; that night in Tokyo, they wouldn't even let me talk to you."

"I hope you didn't say that you knew me."

"Don't worry; I didn't mention your name at all," she replied, in a slightly cold voice. "I know that you don't want to be associated with someone who lectures endlessly about friendship--"

"Gardner, don't even start with that," he said. "I have my reasons; I don't want Keith knowing that I'm closing in on him."

"Right…" she said, her eyebrows slightly arched. "Well, I can email you the itinerary after I look it up; I know that Broadway is somewhere in our future. But I know for a fact that we're heading for Sydney in a couple days; that's where our next performance is. Are you going there, too?"

"Yes, I am," he replied, glancing back at the ancient ruins. "If I can get a few more pieces of this puzzle in place, I'll be able to stop that lunatic's inane scheme. But keep one thing in mind: when you're chatting with your colleagues, you do not know who Seto Kaiba is. Is that clear?"

"Sometimes, I don't think I know who Seto Kaiba _really_ is at all," she replied, in a slightly forlorn tone.

The CEO blinked, caught off-guard by the comment, but he was determined not to show it.

"Just keep that in mind, Gardner; you won't have to worry about anything," he said.

Once again, Téa wondered if there was a double meaning in the words. Was he saying that she didn't have to worry simply out of annoyance, or was it out of concern, too?

"I need to contact Mokuba and see to this Vulsor nonsense," Seto went on. "Keep your eyes open, but don't make it obvious."

"See you in Sydney, then," she said. He glanced back at her after she said this, but he didn't say a word. After a moment's silence, they took their leave of each other.

Téa didn't like to think that one of her new friends might be out to get her into very deep trouble. And after overhearing what the Rare Hunters had planned for her, she couldn't help but be afraid. And yet, there was a part of her that wasn't afraid; just the knowledge that Seto Kaiba would be there, keeping an eye on things, seemed to ignite a spark of hope in the girl's heart.


	11. Found Out

"Hey, Téa!" said Aurus, as he greeted her. "How were the ruins?"

"You know, I decided not to go after all," she lied, in case Keith's informer was close by. "I ended up doing a bit more window shopping."

"Window shopping? You need to go ahead and buy something," said Caerii. "Just follow your heart… and your credit score."

"Oh, sure," said Hesper, sarcastically. "Then we'd end up with another you; that's the last thing we need."

Aurus rolled his eyes as the comment ignited a sibling spat. Téa watched them for a moment; they truly reminded her so much of the friends from back home. She knew that her Domino friends were loyal to her and to each other until the end; sure these three were like that, too. As the dancers of fire, they were almost like a family, as Kayser had said.

They couldn't possibly be the informers. But she had to figure out which of the other dancers was the culprit, and why. Was she under suspicion because she was new?

Retreating to her room, she once again pulled out her handheld and proceeded to tell her Domino friends everything, already predicting their reactions.

But she wasn't the only one informing people of Vulsor; Seto Kaiba was telling his brother the same thing. Mokuba was stunned to hear about Vulsor being affiliated with the Rare Hunters.

"_I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I am_," he said in his reply. "_But you don't have to worry about me; I've been keeping a close eye on everything, and so has Roland. We haven't seen anyone contacting Vulsor yet, but we'll let you know. I hope you've been talking to Téa, and not in your usual way…_"

"Don't worry, Mokuba; I've been talking to her…" he said aloud, with a sigh. "More than I expected to, even…"

Her willingness to trust her fellow dancers was frustrating; here he was, actually showing shreds of concern, and she was insisting that she knew better. If she kept this up, she would need his help more than she thought.

"_Priorities, Kaiba_," his pride ordered him. "_Remember, you're here for Kaiba Corporation first. You can't be responsible for what happens to Gardner, especially if she isn't going to listen._"

And yet… supposing she _did_ get captured by the Rare Hunters; what would he do? He wasn't too familiar with Arkana, but it was clear that the Rare Hunters were a bunch of dangerously mad lunatics. No one deserved to be their captive.

She was counting on him, he realized. She was investing all of her confused feelings in him; she was trusting him to keep her safe.

"What do I look like—a knight in shining armor?" he muttered to himself.

Apparently, Téa thought so. She was so blinded by her feelings that she was beginning to see him as a person he was not. And yet she seemed convinced that this other person existed.

So why wasn't he trying to prove her wrong?

* * *

When the troupe had arrived in Sydney a few days later, the elder Kayser once again gave them an entire day to do all of the sightseeing that they wanted. Téa decided to stay with the rest of the dancers of fire this time; regardless of where the Rare Hunters showed up, she would have an alibi so that Keith's informer wouldn't be able to pinpoint her as the spy.

Their outing took the four dancers to the famous harbor of the city. Téa had brought a sandwich with her, but she was generous enough to throw a few pieces of bread crust for some of the seagulls wandering nearby.

"So, are we planning to stay here long?" asked Aurus, who wasn't too fond of standing around and doing nothing. "Or are we going to stick around for a little bit and watch the water like that guy over there?"

Téa glanced in the direction that Aurus was indicating. A young man was standing on the edge of the harbor, watching the ocean as Aurus had observed. But something about the young man's indigo hair seemed very familiar to Téa.

"Téa?" asked Aurus, as she approached the water-watcher. "Where are you going?"

"Hold on!" she called to her colleagues. "I think I know him! Mako, is that you? Mako?"

And the young fisherman turned upon hearing his name.

"Téa Gardner!" Mako exclaimed. "Imagine meeting you here, after so long… How long ago was Battle City, anyway?"

"Too long," Téa replied, with a grin.

"And I see you've brought the rest of the crew with you… Hold on; that isn't the old crowd," the boy went on, noticing Aurus and the Tessurcas. "Who are they? What happened to the others?"

Téa launched into a quick explanation of how she had joined the Dancers of the Elements.

"And that's why I'm here," she said. "What brings you to Sydney?"

Mako took another glance out at the ocean before turning back to Téa.

"My father," he replied. "I have reason to believe that he was seen here a few months ago."

"A few months ago?" Téa repeated, in disbelief. "But isn't he… I mean, wasn't he lost at sea?"

"That's what I thought," said Mako, unable to suppress the emotion in his voice. "I won't deny that I had given up on him. But I was in San Francisco about a week ago, and I met up with someone—a man with wild brown hair. He said he was in Adelaide some months ago, and he happened to cross paths with another man who supposedly looked a lot like me and said that he was looking for his son. The brown-haired man I met said that the person he came across was heading to Sydney."

"Oh, Mako…" Téa said, feeling empathy for the young fisherman.

"I'm certain that it was my father, Téa," he went on. "I know that he was seen here months ago, and that his trail has gone cold… but knowing that he's out there somewhere, alive…" He trailed off.

"You have to keep looking," Téa finished for him, softly.

Mako nodded.

"But are you looking for someone, too?" the fisherman asked her.

"Why do you ask?"

"That look in your eyes is just like mine; I'd know it anywhere," said Mako. "You're searching for someone… someone whom you know is out there, but you don't know where exactly…"

And then she realized it; her heart was still looking to find Seto Kaiba's hidden soul—the one that knew how to care, but was overshadowed constantly by his darker, aloof persona.

She smiled, wistfully in reply before saying, "I hope you find your father, Mako."

"And I hope you find the one you're searching for, too," he replied.

Téa started to leave, but stopped as she was hit with a sudden realization.

"Mako…" she said. "That man with the wild brown hair you met in San Francisco… Did you get his name, by any chance?"

"I think he might have mentioned it, but I was too focused on the prospect that my father was alive to register it," he answered, with an apologetic shrug. "But he wasn't alone; he was traveling with two other people. I don't have the slightest idea as to who he was."

"I think _I_ might have an idea," Téa replied. "But never mind; it doesn't matter now. I was thinking, though… Would you like to come to our dance show the night after tomorrow?"

Mako shrugged.

"It's not really my thing, but sure," he said. "Though you'll forgive me if I cheer more for the water dancers?"

"Sure," she replied, with a grin. "Well, I hope you enjoy the show!"

"Oh, and before I forget," added Mako, glancing at the other dancers and lowering his voice so that only Téa could hear. "Kaiba was here, not too long ago; he was looking for you."

"_Kaiba_ was looking for me?" she asked in a soft voice, wondering what on earth he could've found out this time.

"Yes; he says it's important, and that you need to meet him in the gardens near the Opera House as soon as possible," he replied, with a shrug. "I don't know what this is all about, but I told him that I'd tell you if I saw you; I think he knows that I know you and the others."

"Look, Téa, if you're going to be chatting with him some more, how about we meet you at the hotel?" called Aurus, impatiently.

"Sorry about that," Téa called back. "You guys go on ahead, then; I'll probably try some more window shopping later!"

She waited until they had gone before speaking to Mako again.

"Something's up, isn't it?" asked the indigo-haired youth. "The man in San Francisco mentioned that my father was looking for me, saying that he had to find me before the Rare Hunters do."

Téa's head snapped to attention, and Mako's eyes widened.

"So they _are_ back!?" he asked. His look of surprise changed to one of suspicion and concern. "But… why would they be after me? And what will happen to my father if they find him first…?"

"Please don't worry, Mako," said Téa. "Kaiba is trying to stop them, and I'm doing the best I can to help. I don't know why they'd be after you, unless you have something they need in the way of rare cards, but be careful all the same."

"You, too," the fisherman replied. "They're not to be taken lightly."

* * *

Seto waited in silence as he stood with folded arms. He didn't have time to waste; he couldn't afford standing around to wait for Téa to show up. And she wouldn't be able to afford it, either, based on what Mokuba had just discovered.

"Kaiba?" asked a familiar voice.

"Took you long enough to get here," he said, upon her arrival. "It would benefit you to remind yourself every once in a while that keeping you informed is not a required task on my part."

"What's the message?" she asked, deciding to ignore his brusqueness.

"Mokuba has been doing some investigating at the Domino end of this case ever since I told him about the Rare Hunters' meeting," Seto replied, scanning over his own handheld computer. "I think that you should read this."

She read the message from Mokuba.

"_You need to tell Téa that she's in danger, Seto_," the boy had said in the message. "_Vulsor has figured out that she isn't in Domino, and that she's part of that dance troupe. If Bandit Keith hears about this, he might remember her, and even if he doesn't, the other Rare Hunters are definitely going to remember after they had trapped the two of us in that warehouse back in Battle City. And please, actually tell her, Seto; you owe her that much to speak to her in person_."

Téa cleared her throat at this point, and Seto withdrew the computer.

"If it was really that much trouble, you could've forwarded the message to me; I don't think that this is what Mokuba had in mind…"

"This isn't about that!" Seto retorted. "This is about you falling into the hands of those Rare Hunters. Look; I suggest that you get back to the hotel, gather all of your possessions, and I can take you back to Domino, where you'll be safe."

"Back to Domino?" repeated Téa. "Impossible; I have a performance the night after tomorrow; I was just telling Mako about it."

"Have you lost what little sense you have!?" Seto asked, upon hearing her reply.

"Of course not!" she retorted. "How else are you going to find out how the informer is sending information to the Rare Hunters? Face it, Kaiba; unless you can dance and find a way into the troupe, I'm your only inside contact. And there's no way I can leave until I figure out who is behind it, how they're doing it, and why they're doing it."

"And have you considered that you might end up getting yourself captured, especially since the Rare Hunters are soon going to know who you are!?" the CEO asked, barely restraining himself from trying to shake some sense into her.

"Kaiba, you won't be able to solve this mystery without me," she replied. "I'll see you at the performance." Her voice softened slightly. "But thanks for caring; I know I won't be able to solve it without you, either."

Seto said nothing; he just gritted his teeth in frustration as she walked away. Without a doubt, Téa Gardner was one of the most difficult people in the world.

So why was he allowing himself to be concerned over her?


	12. A Misunderstanding?

The performance that following night, as with all of the other ones, went as perfect as Téa had hoped. In spite of the frequently changing steps, she was more than able to keep up.

She hadn't received any further messages from Seto; clearly, he thought that she was being foolish to stay with the troupe. She had, however, received a message from Mako.

"_It was very well done; you danced well_," he had said. "_However, the water dancers weren't as water-like as I had hoped. I don't know; maybe it's just me, but they didn't seem to have steps that suggested the ebb and flow of real water. Of course, I'm probably taking this too far; maybe it's just some kind of stylized dancing that I'm not familiar with. At any rate, you were great. My search for my father hasn't been going that well; as I suspected, the trail has gone cold. All the same, I think I'll go north and visit the Great Barrier Reef before I leave. It was very nice to see you again, Téa; I hope it won't be the last time, either._"

Téa hadn't really bothered to pay attention to the dance steps of the other elements; she was more concerned with learning those of the fires. She made a mental note to take a look at them the next performance, which would be at San Francisco; and they were already on their way.

But Seto moved faster than the whirlwind traveling of the Dancers of the Elements; he had arrived in San Francisco a few hours ahead of the troupe, determined to keep his tabs on Keith and the Rare Hunters.

But he had beaten _them_ to the city, too. With a sigh, he proceeded to email his brother, who was rather irked to hear about how Seto had delivered the message to Téa in Sydney.

"_Seto, would it hurt you to actually __say__ something to her!?_" He could almost hear the boy's exasperated voice. "_Listen, Seto; I've been talking about the case with Yugi and the others. They're very worried for Téa, but, apparently, she says that she has to keep working on the case. Everyone here is worried about her; please tell me that you are, too. She's worried about you, too, you know; she's been in touch with me. I know that our company's reputation is important… but isn't she important, too? I know you, Seto; you wouldn't bother to help her out if you didn't care. You owe it to her to tell her how you really feel._"

If it wasn't for the fact that mind reading didn't exist, Seto would have sworn that Mokuba had managed such a feat; he certainly hadn't said a word to the boy of what he had thought of Téa. How could he have said anything, when he wasn't even sure of his own thoughts in the first place?

He pondered for a moment, trying to figure out a reply to send to his brother. He was distracted, however, by the call of his name.

"Kaiba!?" a voice asked.

The CEO turned to see familiar faces depart from a passing cable car. There were three of them: a wild-haired brunet whom he didn't recognize at all, a tall blond man whom he knew by sight, and an all-too-familiar redhead, who had been the one addressing him.

Seto acknowledged the red-haired man's presence with a nod. He hadn't expected to meet the three former employees of Paradias again, let alone here in San Francisco.

"It's been quite a while, Kaiba," said Alister, without giving any indication that he was speaking to the man he had once loathed above all others.

"I suppose it has," the CEO replied, in his usual level of aloofness. It was a long shot to say that he had forgiven Alister; although Seto knew that the redhead had been terribly misguided and lost after the loss of his brother, it still didn't excuse what he had done to ruin Kaiba Corporation. How ironic that Seto would come across him now, when his company was in trouble again…

"How's Mokuba?" asked Alister.

"He's fine," Seto replied. "He's looking after Kaiba Corporation while I'm here--"

Seto was cut off by a sudden outburst of laughter from Alister's brunet companion. Seto, Alister, and the blond man all glared at him.

"What's the joke, Valon?" asked the blond.

"Sorry, Raph!" he replied, trying not to laugh. "It… it's just that I happened to have a glance at that…" Valon pointed to the screen of Seto's handheld computer. "I never would've guessed in a million years that Seto Kaiba and that brunet dancer were together!"

"WHAT!?" Seto roared, hastily placing the computer back in his trenchcoat before anything else was divulged.

"I've heard of the odd couple, but this isn't quite what I had in mind!" Valon added, finding the whole scenario amusing.

"Let me make one fact very clear," said the CEO, through gritted teeth. "Gardner and I are not together--"

"Kaiba!" a familiar female voice called out; Seto's subsequent expression prompted Valon to go into a new fit of laughter as Téa herself arrived on the scene. "We just flew in; Kayser gave us today off, like he usually does, so I thought we could come up with a plan to…" She trailed off as she noticed the bikers. "Oh, hello," she added, greeting them.

"You don't have to worry about her now, Kaiba," said Valon, not even bothering to cover up his snickering (Alister was staring determinedly at his watch, while Raphael remained as stern and expressionless as usual, save for a slight twitch at his mouth, which indicated a suppressed smile of amusement). "I'm sure she'll be safe with you here to look after her."

"Oh, have you told them about the case?" Téa asked, confused at Valon's outburst.

"What case?" asked Alister, glancing back at them.

"Didn't he tell you?" asked Téa. "Somehow, the Rare Hunters are connected to the Dancers of the Elements troupe, of which I'm a part of. I'm trying to find out their inside contact, and Kaiba is trying to figure out their master plan."

A black limousine pulled up beside them as Téa spoke.

"Welcome to San Francisco, Kaiba-boy," said Pegasus, giving the exasperated Seto a cheery wave. "But did my ears deceive me, or did your lovely companion just mention the Rare Hunters?"

"She's not my companion," Seto replied, a little too quickly, which prompted everyone around him to raise their eyebrows (Téa included). "She's just working on this case."

"As you say," said Pegasus. "But it's interesting that she was mentioning something about the Rare Hunters; as I told these three gentlemen the other day, they seem to be active as of late."

"Since when did you three work for Industrial Illusions?" asked Seto, glancing back to Alister.

"We're not employees per se," Alister explained. "He asked for a bit of help once, and we gave it to him."

"And on the subject of Rare Hunters," Pegasus went on. "It seems that we intercepted a message between them. Bandit Keith is heading to a meeting in Reno even as we speak." He smirked, clearly remembering the time that he had sent Keith falling through a trapdoor back in Duelist Kingdom. "I'm heading to Reno now for a little bit of investigation. If you five would wish to be of service in this investigation, feel free to join me."

"I don't know about 'being of service,' but I need to know what Keith is up to," said Seto.

"And so do I," agreed Téa. "I don't have rehearsals today, so I can go with you."

Valon smirked again as he saw the expression on Seto's face.

* * *

Within the first five minutes, Seto was beginning to regret going along with everyone. He was willing to put up with Téa Gardner, though if Valon kept accusing them of bring a couple, there was a very good chance that Seto would just forget about the whole ordeal of keeping an eye out for her. After all, he had offered her the chance to go home, but she had insisted on staying. If anything happened to her now, it was not his responsibility.

And he was certainly in no mood to contend with the others. Pegasus was being especially annoying, trying to read too much into Seto's concern for Téa.

"And here I was, thinking that you arrived for the business meeting in Detroit, next week," said Pegasus.

"Business meeting?" Seto repeated. And that was when he recalled that he had made an appointment to attend the meeting, weeks and weeks ago.

"But, Kaiba, next week is our performance in Portland," Téa reminded him. "How are you going to be in two places at once?"

"We'll work that out later," Seto replied. And he was amazed and annoyed with himself now; ordinarily, this wouldn't even have been an issue. He would have gladly chosen the business meeting over chasing after Téa Gardner.

"_Of course; you don't want to see her fall into the hands of the Rare Hunters, even though it would be entirely her fault if she did_," he reminded himself.

He pondered over these thoughts in silence all throughout the long drive to Reno, wishing frequently that he had taken his jet.

They finally did arrive in Reno a few hours later; Pegasus ordered his driver to stop as he noticed Bandit Keith turn a corner, walking towards a rather crowded open café.

"He must be having another one of his meetings," said Téa, as they watched Keith take a seat amongst several of the other Rare Hunters.

"Or lunch," Valon said, with a grin.

They got as close to Keith as they could, hiding their faces behind menus as they hung on to every word.

"According to Vulsor, one of the members of the dance troupe is none other than a close friend of Yugi Muto," they heard Keith say. "I don't know if this automatically makes her the spy, but it certainly places her under the greatest suspicion. Her name is Téa Gardner."

"I remember her," sneered the green-haired Rare Hunter. "Ishtar ordered me to capture her when I was working for him."

"What about our inside contact?" asked Umbra. "Do they know her current whereabouts?"

"She's a tough one to keep track of, according to them," said Keith.

"If she's a friend of Yugi Muto, then there's no point in asking her to join us," said Arkana, malice in his voice. "Excellent; it looks as though I'll have my new assistant, after all…"

"We don't know if she is the spy," Keith reminded him. "However… even if she isn't, she might be useful as a bargaining chip for dealing with Muto, at least. If he knows that we know where she is, we can ensure that he stays in line; he'd do anything to ensure her safety."

"What about Kaiba?" asked Lumis. "That won't work with him; he doesn't care about Gardner at all."

"Really?" asked the green-haired man. "Then why did he clobber me back in Battle City when I had her locked up in that chair?"

"I doubt that Kaiba is even aware that Gardner is a member of the troupe," said Keith. "And even if he did know, he couldn't be bothered with her. I'll have our insiders keep closer tabs on her. If she is the spy, or if Muto starts to interfere with our plans, then Arkana can have his new assistant."

The mad illusionist chuckled, sending a chill down Téa's spine.

"You're a fool if you go through with staying in the troupe," Seto muttered to her under his breath.

"Then I'm a fool," she whispered back, trying to stop the menu from trembling in her hands. She was considering pulling out. And yet, she didn't want to think about what would happen if Seto faced the Rare Hunters on his own. No, she would have to stay—for him and for the mystery.

"Your bravery is admirable," said Pegasus. "But I shouldn't be surprised; it must be second nature to you after being with Yugi for so long."

"Good on ya, Téa," Valon agreed.

"_Well, if it's any consolation, at least I know that I'm doing the right thing_," she said to herself. She cast a glance at Seto, who was keeping an eye on the meeting out of the corner of one of his blue eyes.

He met her gaze for a fraction of a second, and then proceeded to observe the meeting some more. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was impressed by her courage. True, she was trembling in fear, but she was refusing to let the fear control her decisions.

But Seto was also forcefully reminded of Mokuba's recent message. And he had to wonder if there was something that he, too, was fearing.


	13. Revelations

Seto was not pleased to put up with yet another three-hour ride back to San Francisco. He stared determinedly out the window for most of the trip, but he wasn't looking at anything; no, his mind was mulling over the numerous thoughts in his confused mind.

It wasn't like him to fear. It wasn't like him to be concerned. And that was what was unnerving him.

"_What's happening to me?_" he asked himself. "_Worrying like this isn't like me, so what's going on…?_" And that was when he realized that his uncharacteristic concern and worry were the reasons behind his being unnerved. "_This is all Gardner's fault; she's trying so hard to worm her way into my heart that she's trying to change it. This has to stop now--_"

"Kaiba?" Téa asked, causing the CEO's heart to skip a beat. She was taken aback by his reaction, but even more so when he turned to face her with an upset glance. "I was just wondering if you decided on where you're going to be next week… Are you going to the meeting, or are you going to work on the case?"

"_Work on the case?_" his pride asked, derisively. "_In other words, spend more time with Téa Gardner, thereby allowing her more opportunities to further worm her way into your heart and change you even more? You've done your part, Kaiba. You warned her more than once, and she refused to listen. And if you want to avoid suspicion from Keith, you need to attend that business meeting to make it seem as though you're unaware of what he's up to._"

He glanced at Téa, who was still staring at him, waiting for him to answer.

"I'm going to Detroit," he said aloud, in a tone that clearly dripped with finality. "You'll have to look after yourself."

"What!?" the dancer replied. She had been banking on Seto's help (perhaps a foolish thing to do). "But the Rare Hunters--"

"Look, I told you to go home," said Seto. "If you're not going to listen, I can't do a thing for you. And I cannot afford to miss this meeting; I'm a CEO first, and a detective second. But I'm not abandoning the case; Bandit Keith hasn't heard the last of me."

"But I thought that you were going to help me," she said.

"I never promised you anything," Seto reminded her.

"But, Kaiba, I don't stand a chance against the Rare Hunters alone!"

"I'm sure that our little group of spectators would be more than willing to keep an eye on you while you're in Portland," Seto replied, tossing an annoyed glance at the bikers.

"Sure we would!" agreed Valon. "You shouldn't have to face this alone."

Téa glanced at them, and then at Seto. She knew that the bikers could probably be reliable, but, in her heart, she wanted Seto's help beyond all others'. She leaned forward to tell him this in an undertone, but Seto, fearing that she had somehow been possessed to kiss him, hastily withdrew from her. Téa was no fool; she could sense this, and she was hurt.

"You… you want to get away from _me_," she realized, in a quiet, forlorn voice.

Seto said nothing; he turned away, once again looking out the window of the limo, but, in truth, gazing at nothing.

* * *

Before the revelation that had unfolded in the limo, Téa had been quite annoyed and irked with her constant arguments with Seto. But now, as she realized that the CEO was going to Detroit for the sole purpose of escaping from her (right when she needed him the most), she would have preferred the arguments.

She didn't say another word to him during the entire length of the trip back. She didn't even say goodbye; she retreated to her hotel room, an emptiness growing in her heart. All this time she had been thinking that he was having trouble understanding her, when, in truth, he didn't want to understand her at all.

Seto watched her leave, but still didn't say anything. He was vaguely aware of the roar of the limo engine as Pegasus pulled away.

"Heartbreaker!" Valon accused after Téa had left. "You know, Kaiba, I've heard of the saying that one should set free what they love; I've been there and done that. But maybe you need to free yourself first. You owe her an apology. I don't believe that you care about her after all."

"I told her to get out while she had the chance!" Seto retorted.

"That isn't what she wants!" Valon shot back. "But you could never understand. How could you understand someone so selfless like her when you don't even understand yourself?"

"Gardner lectures me enough; the last thing I need is for someone like to you to start lecturing me," Seto replied. "Keep an eye on her, got it?"

Valon looked outraged and tuned to his companions. "What gall!" he exclaimed. "What nerve!" He shot an angry glance at the CEO and stormed off.

"What's his problem?" Seto asked to no one in particular.

"Valon has a soft spot for the ladies," Alister explained.

"And he especially hates to see them hurt," Raphael added, coldly.

Seto ignored them; he wasn't expecting anything short of an outrage over how he had snubbed Téa. Probably, by this time the next day, he'd have an inbox full of angry emails from Joey, and perhaps even a frustrated message or two from his own brother to go along with it.

Once again, he was vaguely aware of the roar of three motorcycles as Valon, Alister, and Raphael left. His mind wasn't focused that much on it; his emotions were a mess. He gathered his thoughts, trying to clear his mind in the night air. He knew he had done what he should have done (there would have been no point in lying to her, or trying to sugarcoat the fact that he was afraid of what she was doing to his heart and personality), and yet he was unable to banish the feelings of remorse. Would he never be able to return to his old self?

"_I need to get out of here_," he decided. "_There's no point in staying here; I may as well head for that meeting. I'll need the peace and quiet to deal with all of Wheeler's nasty letters._"

He didn't wait for another moment; fortunately for him, he had not checked into a hotel yet, and so he returned to his jet and headed for Detroit.

Oddly enough, though, the slew of emails that he had been expecting never arrived. There could have been only one reason for it: Téa had not said a word of what had happened to anyone—not even the friends whom she cherished and preached about so much.

"_Locking her problems away in the darkness_," he thought. "_That doesn't seem like her; that sounds more like…_" His thoughts trailed off as he realized that the description seemed to fit _him_ more than anyone else.

"Ah, there you are, Kaiba-boy," said Pegasus, who had apparently arrived shortly after him. But he wasn't in his usual good-natured mood; normally, Pegasus was annoyingly cheerfully, but today, he seemed to be slightly brusque and patronizing. Undoubtedly, he was expressing his disapproval concerning Seto's actions towards Téa the previous day. Unsurprisingly, Seto found himself indifferent to the other CEO's opinions.

"I know why _I_ came here early," Seto replied, annoyed at Pegasus' presence (regardless of his current disposition). "Why are you here? Are you going to give me a lecture on how to talk to a lady?"

"No, but that doesn't mean that you don't require one urgently," Pegasus replied, with a slight frown. "If you asked me, I'd say that you reached a new low."

"Well, I _didn't_ ask you," Seto retorted, through gritted teeth.

"Fine; I thought that this might interest you," said Pegasus, handing him the details of the meeting.

"This is the list of everyone who will be present," said Seto. "But I don't see what this has to do with…" He trailed off, his eyes narrowing with suspicion. "'Keynote speaker to be a representative of the Dronyche Company, to speak in the place of Dronyche CEO Aranea Vulsor…' I don't believe this!"

"Yes, I thought so, too," said Pegasus. "Strange, isn't it?"

"Vulsor is in prison," Seto said. "I'd think that she'd have been fired after all of her criminal activity."

"Well, apparently, Kaiba, she isn't," the white-haired man replied. "I wouldn't be surprised if the Rare Hunters have something to do with this."

In spite of himself, Seto had to agree. This meeting was going to be an interesting one, to say the very least.

* * *

As Seto had predicted, Téa hadn't told a soul of the hurt that she was feeling. Although she suffered in silence, she refused to let it affect her dancing. Valon, Alister, and Raphael were supportive of her, attending the performance in San Francisco. Although they couldn't all go, Valon agreed to go to Portland with her to ensure that the Rare Hunters didn't try anything (Industrial Illusions had paid for his round-trip ticket as a thanks for the help that he, along with Alister and Raphael, had previously given to Pegasus).

"You have the weirdest friends," Aurus commented, after he saw her talking to Valon yet again. "That blue-haired fisherman in Sydney, and now this road warrior…"

"Apparently, he met the fisherman's dad, which is good, since he's been looking for him," Téa added. She smiled as Aurus tried mulling that piece of information over; he had the same look that Joey had whenever he started thinking too hard about something. "Don't bother trying to work that out," she advised him.

"Message received, understood, and obeyed!" Aurus replied, saluting her.

But speaking about Mako had reminded Téa about what he had said about the water element dancers not being as stylized as Mako would have liked. She brought this up with Valon when she met up with him by the edge of the Mount Tabor.

"I didn't pay much attention to them, honestly," said Valon, mulling it over. After borrowing Tea's handheld computer to send a quick email to Raphael and Alister (and waiting a few minutes for a reply), he added, "And the others didn't notice anything, either. But I need to give you credit in another area; I can't believe how well you're taking this Kaiba ordeal."

"What else can I do…?" she asked.

"Let me put it this way; isn't there something that's been said about the wrath of a woman scorned?"

"That isn't me," Téa replied. "Just like how it isn't Kaiba to accept my feelings for him. Maybe someday, he will finally understand."

"Don't hold your breath…" advised Valon. "Have you so much as heard from him these past few days?"

"No," she said. "I sent him an email saying that the next show after this one is going to be in Chicago. He didn't reply to it."

Valon muttered something under his breath before asking, "Why don't you just give up?"

"I can't give up on him," Téa said. "Look…" she pointed into the distance at Mt. Saint Helens. "That reminds me of Kaiba's heart."

"That's a volcano…" Valon said, his eyebrows raised..

"Exactly," she replied. "Day after day, all of the stress builds up inside that thing until, one day, it destroys itself. That's exactly what Kaiba is doing to himself; all of his inner darkness that his stepfather created keeps building up inside him. That's why I have to keep trying to get through to him before the unthinkable happens, and he becomes a thousand times worse than he is now."

"Call me mad, but I have faith in you."

"You do?"

"Wheeler was able to get through to Mai; he just kept on trying and trying until he was able to bring her back," he said. "Who knows; maybe you can pull off the same kind of miracle with Kaiba."

"I hope so," she said. "Well, I'd better be getting back to practice. We're doing a last run of rehearsals before tonight. I wonder if there'll be Rare Hunters in the audience; I know I saw some in San Francisco…"

"Don't you worry; they'll have to go through me first!" the spiky-haired brunet vowed.

* * *

There _were_ Rare Hunters in the audience again; not only could Téa see them from the stage as she danced, she could also see Valon glaring at them suspiciously. But they weren't doing anything that made them seem as though they were sending or receiving information; they were just watching the dance.

Out of the corner of her eye, Téa kept her eye on the water element dancers. Mako had been right; they didn't seem to be that reminiscent of the water element at all. Their steps and stride did have a clear-cut rhythm, though; perhaps it was meant to mimic the movement of the waves.

But something felt odd; it seemed as though the steps of fire were identical to those of water.

"_Come to think of it, all four of the elements seem to be the same; we just dance at different intervals_," she thought. "_Wow, that's some imagery; it's as though every element is the same, but different…_"

She decided to forget everything and immerse herself into the steps and strides.

"_Strange_," she thought. "_Why does this seem so familiar? I know that every dance is different, but something about seems like a case of déjà vu. A series of strides and steps, interwoven… that's almost like…_"

Her eyes widened as an idea came to her. But it couldn't be true! It simply _couldn't_ be! No plan could be _this_ elaborate!

Téa focused harder on the steps as the performance progressed, and, to her utter shock, it seemed to confirm what she had begun to suspect, as unbelievable as it was. And if her theory was right, it explained how the Rare Hunters were getting their information; the strides seemed equivalent to dashes, and the short steps seemed equivalent to dots. And if this was true, it could only mean one thing: they were dancing in Morse code.


	14. The Impostor

"_This can't be possible!_" Téa thought. And yet it was. She was, indirectly, aiding the Rare Hunters in their ultimate plans… whatever they were.

She willed herself to somehow focus. She was innocent; all she had wanted was to follow her dream. She could not be held responsible for what she was doing. And she knew that she would have to continue to do so until she found out the one behind this elaborate scheme. That wasn't to say, though, that she didn't have a prime suspect in mind already.

"_I don't know how much he knows, but Kayser is definitely a part of it_," she realized. "_Either he receives the dance steps from someone higher up, or he's coming up with these messages himself. And if that's the case, he never cared about helping me further my career like he seemed to be concerned about at first. He just took me aboard to get me to help out the Rare Hunters._"

She was not amused, but forced herself to remain calm and collected throughout the length of the show. Once again, she was not permitted to mingle with the audience, but that didn't stop her from sending a message to Valon. Two could play at this game; she quickly sent a message in sign language to the biker, consisting of only three words: "Check your email."

No one had noticed, except for Valon, who gave her a nod to say that he had understood. She retreated with the other dancers, and proceeded to send him a message detailing her findings. And, naturally, she sent carbon copies to all of her friends; she was so excited about her discovery that she even sent a copy of the message to Seto Kaiba, temporarily forgetting about how he had treated her the last time she had seen him.

After this task had been completed, Téa casually put her handheld computer away, and joined the other fire element dancers aboard the bus that would take them to the airport.

"You alright there, Téa?" asked Aurus, moving over to leave her room on the seat. "You look out of it…"

"I think that last dance took a lot out of me," she said, nonchalantly. "I mean, really; who comes up with those steps?"

"Your guess is as good as mine," he replied, with a shrug. "I think my cousin might have some say in it, but I don't know if he's the only choreographer or not. Either way, he loves to boss us around, doesn't he?"

"He certainly does," Téa agreed, her mind elsewhere.

There had to be some sort of proof that Kayser was the choreographer, or, at least, a contributor. It may not solve the mystery of why he was involved with the Rare Hunters, or what their plan may be, but it would be enough to incriminate him if she found it.

But something else was bothering her; she knew very well that Aurus was the man's cousin. But Aurus was also her friend, and as much as she didn't want to think about it, there was the horrible possibility that he was somehow involved in this mess, as well.

"_But how could he be involved?_" said that ever-trusting voice inside of her. "_He never hangs out with Kayser; he usually hangs out with me or the Tessurcas. Maybe Kayser is just using him, like how Siegfried manipulated Leon back in the Grand Prix. It wouldn't be his fault, then…_" She trailed off, noticing the Anubis pendant around his neck. "_No; that Anubis carving doesn't mean anything. After all, he only got that pendant because Kayser didn't want it; and if someone gave that pendant to Kayser, it means that he knows something about Anubis. The evidence is right there, but I still need more…_"

She would have to wait until they reached Chicago before she could do some more investigating.

* * *

Seto, in the meantime, was attending the business meeting in Detroit that evening. He had half expected that Vulsor would have somehow found her way out of prison (whether through bail or otherwise) to make the speech, but she had not. The keynote speaker from the Dronyche Company was a man whom Seto had never seen before. He was a somewhat tall man, whose face was pale and lacked deep lines, as if he had been wearing stage makeup.

Seto found himself suspicious as the man droned on. Why would a keynote speaker at a business meeting see the need for wearing stage makeup? Was it someone from the dance troupe in disguise? No, it couldn't be; they were still in Portland. And yet, the man's voice seemed oddly familiar, but Seto wasn't able to pinpoint it in his memories, which annoyed him.

"You seem distracted, Kaiba-boy; that isn't like you," observed Pegasus. "Could it be that you really did leave your heart behind in San Francisco?"

Seto glared at him.

"Don't you notice anything familiar about that speaker?" the young CEO asked through gritted teeth, trying his hardest not to think of Téa.

"Nothing at all, Kaiba-boy," Pegasus replied. "But, then again, you've had more encounters with Vulsor and her crew than I have had. Also, if she is affiliated with the Rare Hunters as you say, you will also have had more encounters with them. Perhaps you _have_ seen him somewhere."

Seto glanced back at the speaker.

"_He's certainly depending on his notecards a lot_," the young man thought, derisively. "_If he really was a good representative of a company, he would have had a lot more experience in dealing with talks such as these… And then there's that painfully obvious stage makeup; why on earth would he wear __that__ on his face to a business meeting?_"

And that was when the realization dawned on him; this man did not want his face to be seen. But stage makeup wouldn't be enough to conceal or change his identity; once again, it didn't make sense.

Seto was distracted by his handheld computer silently alerting him to a new email. He was astounded that it was from Téa; he hadn't expected to hear from her again. But then he noticed that he was only one of many recipients, and based on the number of exclamation marks in her subject line, she must have found out something of great interest.

He wasn't disappointed.

"_I know how the Rare Hunters are receiving the messages!_" she had written. "_Our dance steps are in Morse code; __that's__ why Mako found them to be so strange! I'm almost certain that the troupe leader has a large role in this; I'm going to stay with the troupe until this case bursts wide open! There's no need to worry about me; I'm certain that they don't suspect me of anything yet, especially since they think I'm just shopping and sightseeing._"

"_I wouldn't bet on that, Gardner_," Seto thought, more to himself than to her (though he had to admit that whoever had come up with the Morse code dance scheme had to be credited with some intelligence). "_Bandit Keith is a lot shrewder than he's letting on. I still say that you should leave while you have the chance, but I know that what I say won't make any difference to you. And then you had the nerve to get upset just because I decided to leave to go to this meeting. You don't make any sense, Gardner; you were the one who told you that you don't want to get sawed in half by an insane magician, and yet you insist on staying with the troupe…_"

His thoughts trailed off as he remembered Arkana. If he remembered correctly, Arkana usually wore a small mask on his face to cover up the scars he had received in a failed trick.

He glanced back at the nervous keynote speaker, still reading from his notes. The CEO soon had a satisfied smirk on his face; he knew why the man was wearing the stage makeup. Now, he just had to prove that this "Dronyche Company representative" was really a Rare Hunter.

"I may not have the Millennium Eye anymore, Kaiba-boy," said Pegasus, as he glanced from the young man to the speaker. "But something tells me that you suspect him."

"Very good," Seto replied, sardonically, with a roll of his eyes. "What gave it away—his notecards, or his mask of makeup?"

"I don't suppose there's anything I can do to help…?" the older businessman asked, deciding to ignore the question.

"Of course there isn't anything you can…" Seto trailed off, forming a plan as he pondered over the situation at hand. He did not like having to turn to others in any way for help, but perhaps, in this unique case, he might make an exception. "Actually, I can't believe that I'm saying this, but maybe there _is_ a way you can prove yourself to be useful…"

* * *

"Téa, you don't look too well," said Aurus, as he noticed her glancing aimlessly out of the airplane window.

"Well, you know how it is," she said, trying not to arouse the suspicions of anyone who might be listening in. "I'm starting to get rather homesick after all these weeks away from Domino."

"Yeah, well, you're not the only one," he replied. "I know that the boss is my cousin and all, but he rarely treats me like family. No; I'm just another underling to him…"

"_Is he saying this out of pity to make me feel better?_" Téa asked herself. "_Or does Kayser really leave him out of everything? Because if what he says is true, then it means that he really is innocent… I'm sure if I told him about how his cousin was just using him, he'd help me._" She glanced around the airplane. "_Maybe they all would help me if I told them… But I need to make sure that none of the others are in on this plot, too. Someone has been watching me; it's most likely Kayser, but it could be one of the other elements…_"

"Ah, well," Aurus said, with a sigh. "We'll get a vacation during the off season; you can go visit home then. In the meantime, we have more performances to deal with in some very big-name places. It's no good getting nervous, especially when Broadway is looming only a few weeks away."

"I know; I'm not going to say that I'm not excited… I have to admit that I am a little nervous, though," she said.

"You shouldn't be nervous, but I can see why you are," he said. "After all, Broadway is Broadway. Everyone who's anyone will be there, watching your every step. The critics will be waiting for you to make one single mistake--"

"And that's why we have that no mistake policy, right?" she asked, trying to act as casual as possible.

"Yep," he said. "But don't worry about it; you're doing great so far. There's absolutely nothing to worry about."

"_If you only knew…_" she sighed to herself.

* * *

Seto was only paying attention to the meeting half-heartedly. Part of him was keeping a record of every mood the Dronyche representative was making. Another part of him was regretting that he ever mentioned anything to Pegasus; ten to one, he would completely ruin the plan, but there was no turning back from it now. He had to find out if the mysterious man was Arkana, and as the meeting took a break for lunch, he began to put his plan into action.

To his amazement, Seto found himself hoping that it _was_ Arkana. A very chivalrous (and normally silent) part of his mind was thinking that if Arkana was here in Detroit, Téa would be safe from him and his madness.

He shook his head slightly. Why was it that even in a meeting (an environment where he could completely immerse himself in his work), he was thinking about her? He had already established that he didn't want to change; that was why he had been so desperate to come here. And there she was, haunting his thoughts; there didn't seem to be any escape from her.

But he was changing her, too; the fact that she hadn't complained to her friends about his snub said that much. Why was he finding it almost admirable that she was learning to rely on herself? Was he inadvertently changing her, just as she was inadvertently changing him?

"_Something has to be done_," he said to himself. "_Otherwise, we're just going to end up as complete opposites._"

And for the first time, he was regretting his cold actions towards her, and then he was regretting the fact that he was regretting it. He was confused, but then again, so was she.

His thoughts halted as he noticed Pegasus approaching the Dronyche representative with a bottle of seltzer water in hand.

"_I'm almost glad I ask him to do this_," Seto thought, as Pegasus "accidentally" aimed the bottle at the man and unleashed a jet of seltzer water at his face. "_You wouldn't have caught me trying something like that…_"

The man from Dronyche let out a frustrated cry as his thick stage makeup began to run (Pegasus was "apologizing" profusely, of course). And sure enough, scars and burns began to reveal themselves on the man's face. The shocked onlookers soon found themselves staring at Arkana.

The Rare Hunter didn't stay long; his cover blown, he angrily pushed past the crowd of businessmen and women to get to the door.

"You're not getting away this time," Seto vowed, under his breath. "I want some answers, and you're going to give them."

With that, he took off in pursuit of the magician, heedless of any possible trap that the madman might be leading him into.


	15. The Fresco

The young CEO wasn't about to give up the chase, but he found himself dissuaded by the sudden arrival of Strings, blocking his path.

"Out of my way!" Seto snarled, pushing past the silent Rare Hunter to keep track of Arkana.

He didn't get far; a crushing blow upon his shoulder knocked him to the ground, dazed. Of course; he should have realized that Arkana would have had backup. Rubbing the back of his shoulder, Seto glared at the overly quiet man as the insane magician successfully made his escape into the night.

"That's the second time you've done that," the CEO growled. "But this ends now."

The man said nothing, only staring at the CEO with his sunken eyes. Seto attempted to pull off a judo throw, but the silent man stepped aside and struck him again, much to the youth's chagrin. This time, however, Strings had retreated while Seto recovered from the blow. The brown-haired youth nearly yelled out in frustration as he lost track of Strings.

"Kaiba!" called Pegasus, finally catching up to him. "What happened?"

Seto shot him a dark look as he got to his feet again.

"Never mind; I think I can figure it out," Pegasus replied.

"I've had enough of this," Seto said, through gritted teeth. "I've had enough of waiting in the shadows for them to make their move. From now on, I'm going on the offensive."

"Noble sentiments, Kaiba-boy," said Pegasus. "However, do you even have the slightest idea as to how to stop them? Unless my eyes deceived me, you were taken out by just one of them."

Seto glared at him again; the last thing he needed was to be lectured by Maximillion Pegasus, of all people.

"Swallow your pride, Kaiba-boy," the man went on. "You have to come to grips with the fact that you can't handle this alone."

"Maybe I can't," Seto replied. "But if I needed help, it certainly wouldn't be yours. And I'm willing to try my solo luck again before I agree to take on an ally."

Pegasus shrugged.

"It's your decision," he said. "All I know is that Industrial Illusions will be strengthening its ties with its partners and allies in the near future. Kaiba Corporation would be wise to do the same. But maybe you don't need another corporate ally; there are surely others who would be willing to aid your cause, even though she wouldn't gain anything from helping you. Oops, did I say 'she' just a moment ago? Sorry, I mean 'they.'"

Having said his piece, Pegasus retreated back to the business meeting, leaving Seto alone.

"_Very subtle_," Seto thought, sardonically.

* * *

Téa, in the meantime, was discovering that investigating the original choreographer was a lot more difficult than it seemed to be. Kayser had several pages worth of dance steps in his hands as he taught each element their individual steps, but Téa couldn't get a good glance at them. And, by themselves, the fire's message was a group of broken phrases; obviously, they had to be placed together with the steps of the other elements, who were taught separately.

Scribbling down what she could decode, she attempted to make some sense of it.

"'Proceed as planned… still unaware… small detour… keep a watch out…'" she read, over and over again. And then, there was a baffling final line. "'She will awaken in due time.'"

This fragment of message was on her mind during the entire set of rehearsals. She had to give Kayser credit; she was too busy trying to keep track of her own steps, making sure she wouldn't make a mistake, to try to decode what the other dancers were trying to say in their coded steps. And when the night of the actual performance came, it was even more impossible. Concentrating on her steps was difficult enough as it was with all of the aspects of the mystery flying through her head; at this point in time, she was too distracted to even try looking for Rare Hunters in the audience, though she knew very well that they were there.

Frustration plagued her; she knew that she wouldn't be able to do this alone. She would have to risk talking to Aurus and the Tessurcas about it. But she was still trying to mull over the part of the message she had decoded. Who on Earth was the "she" they were referring to?

Téa's first thoughts turned to Vulsor. Was that some sort of coded message revealing a plan to help Vulsor attain her freedom? If that was the case, Téa would have to warn her friends after the show.

But she soon realized that she didn't have a chance; the second the show had finished, Kayser was ushering the dancers to a downtown Chicago museum for the meet-and-greet. Téa, like the other female dancers, was wearing an evening gown that had been rented specifically for the evening (unsurprisingly, her gown, as well as Caerii's, was a fiery yellow-orange; Aurus and Hesper were wearing suits that reflected their link to the fire element, as well).

The museum was opened to guests and dancers alike, and if it hadn't been for the looming seriousness of the mystery, Téa would have enjoyed walking through the exhibits tenfold more than she had. She proceeded to walk from exhibit to exhibit, pausing to return greetings and thank the compliments that guests heaped upon her as they walked by.

"Awesome place, isn't it?" asked Aurus, with a grin, as he crossed paths with her at a showcase of ancient Incan and Mayan pottery. "And they've even got an Ancient Egyptian exhibit over there, just for you. How about we take a look? I'd like to find out more about this pendant of mine…"

Téa hadn't noticed the exhibit until Aurus pointed it out. A granite gateway bordered by carvings of Isis and Nephthys greeted them as they entered. Surrounded by the ancient carvings and artifacts, Téa felt calmer, as though the spirit of her dear friend Atem was close by.

"I knew this'd cheer you up!" said Aurus, noticing her. "You've been so down these past couple of days. Nice little pick-me-up, isn't it?"

"Yeah, thanks…" she said, smiling back. For the first time in a long time, she felt at ease… almost at home…

But the feeling quickly faded upon coming face to face with the head of a blue-colored statue. She didn't even need to read the information in order to recognize who it was, though Aurus read it out loud for the benefit of those nearby them, who were also looking at the artifacts.

"'Head of a statue of the Pharaoh Sethos, New Kingdom," he read. "The king is seen here with the _kepresh_ crown."

Téa stared through the glass, right at the statue head with an unreadable expression.

"_Great_," she thought. "_I'll __never__ be able to escape that face…_"

"There's more stuff of Sethos' over here," said Aurus.

"_Terrific_…" she thought. "_That's just what I need…_" Her thoughts were diverted as she saw part of a fresco beside the statue head. The king was shown placing his hand gently upon the face of a brown-haired woman.

"That, apparently, was his queen, though her name isn't given here," Aurus said. "You know, Téa, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you looked a lot like her… Don't you think so?"

"Ironic, isn't it…?" Téa asked, somewhat airily. She glanced at her ancient counterpart (whose name she knew from other sources). "_Oh, Túaa,_" she thought. "_How on Earth did you manage winning him over?_"

The fresco seemed more like a photograph than anything else, depicting the obvious care and concern that Sethos had for Túaa. The Pharaoh was clearly in love with his queen, as evidenced by his gentle hand on her face that was softly brushing her hair aside. A closer look revealed something else: a tear on the queen's face. He was consoling her. A glance at the informational paragraph revealed that the fresco chronicled a rather sad time for the couple; apparently, one of their sons had been killed by enemy soldiers.

"_They had it difficult, too_," Téa thought, blinking back her own tears. "_But at least they were together through it all. Sethos loved Túaa; he cared for her and was there in her time of need. Seto Kaiba just left me high and dry; he could care less about what I felt--_"

"May I say what a pleasure it is to see that you have decided to come to our little meet-and-greet," she heard the elder Kayser say. "We certainly hoped that you enjoyed the show, Mr. Kaiba."

The girl's eyes widened.

"_No. No way… He __couldn't__ be…_"

"Hey, we've got company," said Aurus, turning around. "It's that CEO we saw back in Tokyo. I guess he came to see the show."

Téa finally dared to look, and was astounded to see Seto dressed in an apparently new, black business suit, following Kayser with an unreadable expression. He glanced in Téa's direction, but made no sign of recognition.

"May I introduce you to two of our very talented dancers?" asked Kayser, leading Seto to Téa and Aurus. "This is my cousin, Aurus Kayser."

Seto and Aurus shook hands.

"And this is our newest, but most talented, dancer of them all," he went on. "Miss Téa Gardner. Miss Gardner, this is Mr. Seto Kaiba, the famous CEO of the Kaiba Corporation."

And Seto shook her hand as well.

"A pleasure, Miss Gardner," he said, coolly, as though they had never met before. "Your talent has not gone unnoticed."

"Well… thank you, Mr. Kaiba," she said, trying her hardest to conceal her utter confusion and bemusement.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Aurus glance at Seto, and then at the statue head of Sethos. He repeated this process several times, looking as bemused as Téa was, before eventually shaking his head, as though to discard the notion that the statue was not of an ancient Pharaoh, but instead that of the modern-day CEO.

"Well, I'll leave you three to look around the exhibit," said the elder Kayser. "Thanks again for coming by, Mr. Kaiba."

Kayser left, leaving behind an emotionless CEO and two dancers, both very baffled, but for different reasons. Aurus took another glance at the statue head, glanced at Seto again, and then turned to Téa.

"You know what?" he said. "Hunger—hunger is notorious for causing hallucinations. I'll catch you later, Téa. I… I think I need to eat something…" He glanced at Sethos and Seto again. "...Badly..."

He scurried off, trying his hardest not to run. Téa would've been highly amused if she hadn't been so bewildered herself. She turned back to the CEO, who finally glanced back at her with some indication that he did, in fact, knew her.

"What in Heaven's name are you doing!?" she hissed.

"I would've thought that to be obvious, Gardner," he replied, his voice in its normally cold tone. "I'm here to try to shed some light on this mystery and find out what's going on."

"For a moment, I thought you were an impostor or something," she replied, recalling their handshake.

"Ironic that you should mention that," Seto countered, and he proceeded to tell her about Arkana showing up at the meeting in Vulsor's place. "Unfortunately, I didn't find out anything new; it merely confirmed what we knew already about Vulsor working closely with the Rare Hunters."

"I think they have some sort of plans to free her," said Téa, and she recounted to him what bits of that evening's message that she had figured out. "Most of the message fragments make some sort of sense except for the 'awaken in due time' line. I can't think of any other 'she' that they could possibly be referring to. But that's only half of my worries; I need to get some sort of proof that Kayser is the one writing these messages, or, at least, coding them into steps."

"Are these what you're looking for?" asked Seto, pulling some torn pieces of paper from his pocket. They were the dance steps, clearly written in the troupe leader's handwriting.

"Where did you find these!?" Téa gasped.

"Apparently, he was in a hurry to get rid of these, and tried to dispose of them," Seto replied. "He didn't bother to check and see if all of the pieces of paper made it into the garbage; they were right on the floor, almost in plain sight."

"That's it!" she whispered, trying to conceal her excitement. "We need more evidence like this, and that'll be all it takes to convict him!" She paused, glancing from the pieces of paper to the CEO himself. "So… does this mean that you're back on the case?"

"I never _left_ the case, Gardner."

"I mean… are you going to be working with me again on the case?" she asked, unsure of his reply. The memory of the limo ride from Reno (and how he had snubbed her) was still fresh in her mind.

"I suppose…" he said, with an annoyed roll of his eyes.

She seized the moment while he was still rolling his eyes to enfold her arms around him in gratitude. Once again, she did not wait to see if he would pull away; she let go and ran off. And now it was Seto's turn to be bothered and bewildered, hoping that no one had seen the hug.

With a frustrated sigh, he turned, and he came face to face with the statue head. He suppressed another roll of his eyes after glancing at the sculpture of the man who resembled him. But then his gaze fell upon the fresco beside the statue head. Even he could not ignore the obvious care and concern that his look-alike was feeling for the bereaved queen; nor he could ignore the tiny reflection of Téa in the glass as she watched him from the other side of the room.

"Crazy coincidence…" he muttered, half-heartedly. But, in truth, he didn't know what to believe anymore: be it was ancient history, or his own clouded thoughts.


	16. The Second Meeting

Seto was half-heartedly berating himself for deciding to come; after all, it would give Téa a chance to try to change him again. Nevertheless, he found himself following the troupe to Pennsylvania—specifically, to their upcoming show in the heart of Philadelphia.

This time, however, Kayser was trying something different. Rather than give them the day off and then begin practice as he had normally done for all of the previous shows, he told them that they would have to begin practice immediately, and that they would have their day off after the performance.

"Now why would he go and do that!?" Aurus fumed. "We're going to be all tired and jet lagged--"

"We only flew in from Chicago, Dummy," said Caerii, with a roll of her eyes. "If you're jet-lagged from _that_, I'm surprised that you haven't been kicked out of the troupe for messing up already."

"Even if I do mess up, he can't kick me out; I'm his cousin!" Aurus informed her (in a rather Joey Wheeler-esque tone), his pride slightly wounded.

"Yeah, and that's the only job security you have," smirked Hesper, drawing an angry glare from Aurus.

Téa's mind was on other things, so she didn't bother about trying to keep an eye on the impending brawl. One thing was for certain; Aurus seemed genuinely surprised at the deviation from the norm.

"_That __must__ mean that he's innocent, but Kaiba will be furious if I bring anyone else into the case right now_," she thought. "_I already sent him packing once before without even meaning to; I don't want to do that a second time; he might not come back…_"

She pushed the thought from her mind and proceeded to pay attention to her steps as they were taught to her. Once again, the entire message was not revealed, but she understood something about Chicago and the meet-and-greet being discussed. Kayser must have had something important come up there… something that needed to be relayed to the Rare Hunters as soon as possible… but what?

She relayed her fragments of message to Seto. He couldn't piece together a meaning, either, but he would be keeping close attention to the entire message on the night of the show.

"_It still doesn't prove that Kayser is behind it_," he had written back. "_The way I see it, the only way to gather the evidence we need is to search his hotel room and find whatever evidence he's left in there._"

"_Is he seriously suggesting that we try breaking and entering!?_" she thought, reading the message. "_Terrific; we get Kayser arrested, and then we get arrested for trespassing, too… Unless he has some other plan in mind… and knowing Kaiba, he's probably come up with more than a dozen during the time it's taken me to read this message._"

* * *

For the first time in weeks, she was not worried when she ascended the stage the night of the performance. She didn't have to worry about trying to decode the message; Seto would be able to figure it out. She didn't have to worry about the Rare Hunters in the audience; he would keep an eye on them (and she had been worried during the Chicago performance, thinking that she had been up against the Rare Hunters all alone; she had felt pure relief when she had realized that Seto Kaiba had, in fact, been at the meet-and-greet and was now working with her once again).

All Téa had to do now was to close her eyes and immerse herself in the dance. And if it weren't for the fact that she was unintentionally aiding the Rare Hunters, she would have been having the time of her life upon that stage, her heart as afire as the element she was portraying. Within those flames of her heart shone her hopes and dreams, along with the rage she felt with the knowledge of how she was being used as a pawn in the Rare Hunters' twisted game.

But it would be alright. Once they had enough evidence, Kayser would be put away. Perhaps the troupe would continue to travel. Would Seto still follow if it did, even though the case would be closed? She would like to think so, even though she knew it wasn't likely. But there was also the possibility that the troupe would disband after Kayser's arrest, especially after the scandal was brought into the light. If that was the case, it would be back to Domino for her, but Madame Mystica would have been right; Téa would have found something precious: the chance to have called herself a professional dancer (albeit for only a couple months). And that almost made the whole fiasco seem worthwhile.

"Glad to see you aren't nervous," Aurus whispered out of the corner of his mouth as she passed him. "Especially since Broadway's next…"

Ah, yes… the Great White Way… Even if that was where this mystery was to end, and if that was to be where the troupe was doomed to disband, it would mean so much to have danced on one of those famous stages. No, she wasn't nervous; if anything, she was looking forward to it.

Téa allowed herself to temporarily forget about the case, focusing her thoughts on the upcoming performance.

"_I probably should be a bit more concerned_," she said to herself. "_But Kaiba's keeping an eye on things. I know I can count on him._"

Although it was foolish, she was not worried in the slightest. Her eyes found Seto in the audience, and her fears seemed to go even further away.

"_He does care_," she realized. "_It doesn't matter what he said; he wouldn't have come back if he didn't care. I just wish he'd let that caring side of himself out more often._"

That, however, was a dream that was beyond her reach.

Seto, of course, wasn't bothering with pondering over much, since his attention was being focused on the incoming message. The dancers moved quickly; he only had time to scribble down the letters as they were danced out. He would have to read the actual message later.

"_I hate having to give credit to my enemies, but they have a pretty good set-up with this thing_," he admitted to himself. "_But that doesn't mean that they're going to get away from me._"

At this point in time, Téa was a necessary ally. Although unnerved by her feelings (not to mention the hug she had given him on the night of the meet-and-greet), he was forcing himself not to think about it.

* * *

Téa retreated to her room that night, checking her email. As she had expected, Seto had emailed her the decoded message:

"'_I don't know how significant Kaiba's arrival in Chicago is. It seems more than a coincidence, given how Arkana's cover was blown in the meeting. As for the girl, I am reluctant to lose so talented a dancer; she hasn't done anything suspicious, as far as I can tell, and she doesn't seem to be affiliated with Kaiba Corporation in any way, given how formal her introduction to Kaiba was. Requesting meeting tomorrow at location Z to discuss plans all the same; flight leaves tomorrow morning and the meeting to be held at location M.'_"

"_Well, that's some good news. They think that I don't know Kaiba… and, in a way, they're right…_" she thought, once again recalling how he had ditched her in San Francisco. She quickly pushed these thought away; she had more important things to worry about.

Seto had gone on to say in the message that he would be following Kayser. And since it was her day off, Téa sent a reply message, asking if she could go with him. Several minutes went by without a reply. Was he not online? No—Seto Kaiba was _always_ online; he was probably just ignoring her request.

Téa sighed. She was about to log off herself when his reply finally came, consisting of directions and a rather sardonic postscript:

"_We're leaving at 9. If you're late, I'm leaving without you_."

"_He's all heart, isn't he…?_" she thought, with a roll of her eyes.

Needless to say, she was up early the next morning to meet him at the location. She was astounded to see that it was a small airfield, and he was waiting beside his dragon-shaped jet.

"We're going… in _that_!?" she asked, causing Seto to cast an annoyed glance her way.

"If you'd rather stay here, be my guest," he said.

"No, no; it's okay…" she insisted, getting into the seat beside him. "I'll come quietly. But… do you know where we're going?"

"Actually, I do," he replied, as he began to start up the craft. "When this fiasco first started, Mokuba managed to track the cell phone signal of the fraud who had called me. That was what had led me to Tokyo. I asked Mokuba to re-track the same signal last night, and, as I suspected, it was coming from somewhere here in Philadelphia. And now, it's traveling at a quick rate of speed to the west. Clearly, the Rare Hunters have their own plane."

"Do you think we can catch up to them?" asked Téa, as the jet began to rise.

With a smirk, Seto activated the jet's thrusters, sending them forward with such a force that Téa slammed back into her seat.

"On second thoughts, never mind…"

* * *

When the jet landed in a small airfield a half hour later, Seto once again tracked the signal. A satisfied expression crossed his face.

"For your information, Gardner, the signal happens to be only a mile away," he informed her. "If we hurry, we can make it there before they get down to discussing important details of the case."

"Where are we, anyway?" asked Téa. "It looks like a quiet little town; why would the Rare Hunters come here?"

"I don't know any more than you do, Gardner," he reminded her. "Here we are…"

The trail led the duo to a large building made of aged brick. The old door opened with a slight squeak, revealing a corridor with old tiles. However, the tiles and walls were clean and well-kept.

"Someone must still use this old place," said Téa, pulling a flyer from the bulletin board. "'New student lounge opened on the second floor…' …That's strange; this place must be part of some sort of campus."

"It's summer," Seto reminded her. "I, for one, couldn't think of a better place to hold a meeting than an old building that wouldn't be used during this time of year."

"But the door was unlocked…"

"And just how difficult is it to pick a lock open?" Seto asked her, unable to resist rolling his eyes. "I would think that your experience with Vulsor and the dance hall fiasco taught you that much. Now follow me, and, whatever you do, don't make a sound."

Slowly, so as not to make too much noise, Seto ascended the stairwell by the door, with Téa close behind. The stairs led them to the second floor; the corridor, devoid of windows, was dark, save for a light coming from somewhere in the L-bend of the hall. The lights were on in one of the conference rooms.

"There they are…" whispered Téa, looking through the glass in the door.

"Get back," Seto warned her. Slowly, he turned the door handle, opening the door slightly ajar, so as to hear them better. Eyebrows arched slightly, he beckoned her to the door. "They're talking about you."

It was difficult to discern exactly what they were saying, but it was clear that Keith was proving Kayser wrong, informing him that she _was_ affiliated with Kaiba Corporation (however distantly).

"All the same, I don't see why a change in plans is required," said Kayser. "She doesn't seem to be on close terms with Seto Kaiba--"

"_No one_ is on close terms with Seto Kaiba," sneered Umbra.

"And she hasn't done anything suspicious," Kayser went on.

"And you're waiting for her to do something suspicious?" asked Keith, derisively. "Vulsor said that Gardner was one of the first people to go snooping around in the performing arts center's cellars when she took over that computer chip shipment a few months ago."

"I will not lose so talented a dancer," insisted Kayser. "After all, the spy could be one of the other overly-curious girls; why blame this one, just because of her history? She may have learned her lesson."

"This isn't the time to get sentimental over your little troupe," snarled Keith. "You're working for us, so…" He trailed off. "Strings? Where do you think you're going!?"

There was no time for Seto and Téa to retreat; String's sunken eyes appeared behind the glass pane in the door, leering at them.

With a shriek, Téa kicked the door, smacking Strings in the face. Dazed, the silent Rare Hunter fell out of view. Seto had to admit that he was partly satisfied with finally seeing Strings on the receiving end of a blow, but this wasn't the time to bother with it; the other Hunters were getting to their feet.

Téa, on the other hand, hadn't even bothered to wait and see; she had already taken off down the corridor at the orders of her intuition.

"Gardner!" Seto hissed after her, as he ducked into another room. "Gardner, get back here!"

Too late; she was out of earshot, and had vanished somewhere into the shadows of the hall.


	17. One More Dance

It was a shock for Téa to turn around and see that Seto was not there behind her. Immediately she stopped, aiming to turn back, but footsteps told her that the Rare Hunters were pursuing her. She could not afford being discovered as the spy; Arkana already promised her a terrible fate.

Hoping against all hope that Seto had somehow escaped to safety, Téa fled up the stairwell and onto the third floor, searching for a window with a fire escape. But she hadn't gone far past a room with an open door when a pair of arms reached in from within, clamping a hand over her mouth, and forcing her into the room. Téa shut her eyes, knowing that the worst was about to unfold.

"This is why I prefer to work alone," a voice muttered into her ear.

Now her eyes widened. She turned to face Seto as he released her.

"They didn't see you, did they?" he asked.

"No, but how did you get here?" she asked. "I didn't hear you near the stairwell at all…"

"I didn't use that stairwell; I found another internal stairwell in the center of the building," he said. "Follow me; I know a way out of here."

"But what if they…?"

"Look, you were the one who insisted on coming along with me," he replied. "Just trust me on this, alright?"

"_Did he __really__ just say that…?_" Téa wondered.

Pushing the thought aside, she followed him, keeping track of the footsteps running in every direction; the Rare Hunters were undoubtedly splitting up to comb the building. But Seto was unconcerned; he led her to the loading dock of the building, and successfully led her into the fresh air.

"This isn't the place to rest," he said, as she paused to catch her breath. "We need to be out of sight of the windows."

"There!" Téa exclaimed, pointing to the nearest building. Upon entering their unlikely sanctuary, a sweet smell wafted into the dancer's nostrils. Piles of chocolate were displayed all around them, each treat as inviting as the next.

"Welcome!" greeted the bright-eyed owner of the shop. "May I help you?"

"We're just looking," Seto insisted, before Téa could point out something she wanted to buy. The shopkeeper gave him an understanding nod and went back to check on the latest batch of chocolate.

After she had left, Téa finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"How did Strings notice us!?" she asked.

"He may not say anything, but he's certainly over-vigilant," Seto muttered. He knew that he couldn't blame Téa this time; she hadn't said a word to alert Strings.

"At least Kayser doesn't want to believe that I'm the spy," she went on.

"It's only a matter of time until he figures it out and accepts it," Seto said. "Fortunately for you, you don't have to deal with this anymore."

"What do you mean?" she asked.

Seto held up his handheld computer.

"I used the recording feature on this to get a partial excerpt of the Rare Hunter's meeting," he explained. "This is all the evidence we need to put him away."

Téa pondered over this for a moment.

"Kaiba," she said. "Can you do me a favor? Can you wait until our Broadway performance is over before you report this?"

Seto glared at her.

"You have got to be kidding," he said, his eyes narrowed.

"No; I'm not," she said. "I realized that I'm being a little stupid here, but to dance on Broadway has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember. Just let me perform one last dance."

Seto glared at her.

"You aren't a little stupid," he said. "You're completely insane!"

"Kaiba, please try to understand!" she said, blinking back the tears in her eyes. "This is all I ever wanted, Kaiba, ever since I was a child. This dream is within my grasp; I'm begging you to let me take it!"

"Do you honestly think that I'm going to let this Kayser hack away at my company for a moment longer just because of your dream!?"

"No," she admitted. "But it was worth a try. It was worth trying to see if you could learn to think about someone other than yourself for once."

"What do you think I'm doing!?" he replied. "Do you realize what's going to happen to you if Kayser finally agrees that you're the spy!?"

She glanced at him, cool and unafraid.

"Yes, I do," she said. "But I'm willing to risk it for my dream. I've seen you do the same; you don't care what it takes to keep your company strong, or your brother safe. It you tried, you could relate to how I'm feeling right now."

Seto wasn't sure if he was willing to try to understand her. It was true that he would be willing to do anything for his company or his brother, probably without regard for anything or anyone else. But on the other hand, Téa was being ridiculously stubborn, blind, and… acting just like him.

There would be no arguing with her; they would just go on until they were both blue in the face.

"I guess I'll need time to structure the evidence together anyway," he said, grudgingly. "I'll deal with that, but I'm going home to Domino in the meantime. This is out of my hands now."

"Thank you, Kaiba."

"I still say that you're going to regret this," he warned. "So don't come crying to me if something goes wrong; I can't be held responsible for what happens to you. Don't forget that if it hadn't been for me, you would've been captured by the Rare Hunters a few minutes ago."

"Right…"

"And how are you going to explain your absence in Philadelphia?" he asked. "You'll need an alibi."

"Oh, I think I'll have one," said Téa, as she looked around at the shelves of chocolate. "Just as long as you can get me back there relatively soon…"

And Téa departed the shop soon afterwards with two bags full of chocolate as she followed Seto back to the airfield.

"Was there really a need to buy all of that?" asked Seto, rolling his eyes again as they boarded the jet.

"This way, I can tell everyone that I was shopping," she said, bracing herself for the sudden acceleration of the jet.

Most of the short flight was spent in silence; she really didn't want to disturb him while he was flying the jet. But, after a while, she found that she had to speak her mind.

"I want to thank you, Kaiba," she said. "For all of the help you gave me on this case."

"My company and reputation are at stake; this had nothing to do with wanting to help," he informed her. "You just happened to be involved."

"Well, I wanted to thank you, anyway," she said.

He didn't reply to this; he didn't say a word until they had landed. He did say goodbye to her, which she returned as she left. As he was readjusting the autopilot to Domino, he noticed a chocolate bar that she had apparently forgotten on the passenger seat. Picking it up, he realized that it was a specially molded chocolate bar; it was a greeting bar that simply read, "Thank You."

And that was when he realized that she hadn't forgotten it at all.

* * *

Téa's shopping bags of chocolate seemed to convince everyone that she had been shopping the entire time. The Tessurcas weren't too interested in the sweets, but Aurus gratefully helped himself to the treats. Between the two of them, it was a miracle that she still had a few pieces of chocolate left when they arrived in New York.

"Glad to see that my cousin is giving us our day off before our show," said Aurus. "You want to go sightseeing with the Tessurcas and me, Téa?"

There would be no point in drawing suspicion to herself now, especially when Seto was very close to bringing an end to the case. She decided to accompany the others this time.

But it was around the region of Times Square that Téa noticed a familiar face. This time, however, she didn't make any indication of knowing him; she didn't want to draw attention to him, since she knew that he would loathe it. But that didn't stop her from discreetly sending him an email.

"_Kaiba, what are you doing here?_" she had asked. "_I thought you were going back home._"

"_I figured that this whole fiasco could come to a close the night of your performance_," he wrote back. "_If the police are in the audience and see for themselves how the messages are transmitted in the dance steps, it'll be even more of an open-and-shut case._"

"_So this has nothing to do with you knowing how much it means to me to be on Broadway and actually have one of my friends in the audience?_" she asked him, trying not to sound sarcastic.

"_I wasn't aware that I was anyone's friend,_" he replied.

"_Whatever you say, Kaiba_," she replied. She was almost tempted to add in a winking smiley, but decided against it. After all, she was convinced that she was finally seeing the Seto Kaiba she had always wanted to see; the last thing she wanted was to send him into hiding again.

She didn't say anything else; as the next couple of days passed, she focused on learning her steps (sending him whatever fragments of message she found out, in case he needed any more evidence). And she spent most of the long hours before her performance just keeping herself calm, pacing her dressing room as she waited for showtime.

Seto, in the meantime, was trying to believe his own words. He knew he didn't need any more evidence; it already _was_ an open-and-shut case. And he could easily arrange the evidence he already had from the comfort of his manor in Domino; in fact, he'd prefer it.

"_So why am I here…?_" he asked himself, as he returned to his hotel room. "_There's nothing keeping me in New York…_"

His thoughts came to a halt upon seeing an envelope addressed to him on the floor; someone had slipped it under his door. There was no return address; he was half tempted to discard the letter, assuming it to be from a random fangirl. But something told him to open it, and although he didn't believe in little voices in one's head, he decided to obey his instincts.

"_You know Téa Gardner, don't you, Kaiba? Well, we suggest that you stay away from the Dancers of the Elements and return to Domino tonight. Leave them alone, and don't say a word. Otherwise, you might be forced to say from now on that you __knew__ her._"

The young CEO clenched his fist, the note crumpling in his grasp. It was just as he had predicted; they may or may not be suspecting Téa of being the spy, but they were certainly using their knowledge of her familiarity with Seto against him. Whether they suspected her or not, one fact remained: she was in danger. And in spite of however nonexistent their relationship may be, Seto could not allow them to bring any harm to the dancer.

"_Just wait one moment, Kaiba_," chided his pride. "_You've already warned her several times to leave while she had the chance. If anything happens to her now, it's entirely her fault. And if something does happen, it won't bother Kaiba Corporation in any way._"

This was true. But for some unexplainable reason, it would bother him, not to mention that Mokuba would be worried for his friend. Yes, that was it; he didn't want his brother to lose one of the few friends he had.

"_Stop fooling yourself_," said the normally quiet part of his mind. "_This isn't about Mokuba anymore; it's all about Gardner. She's succeeded with her little ploy of worming her way into your heart; now you've got to live with it. And you're the only one who can help her now._"

The CEO let out a frustrated sigh. He couldn't even try contacting the police; any sign that he was trying to infiltrate the theater would result in something happening to Téa. He silently cursed himself for going soft; it was bad enough that he was changing, but now was the most inconvenient time.

He would have to warn her somehow. Glancing at the clock, he realized that emailing her wouldn't work; it was too close to showtime. He would have to meet her face to face. Following the directions in the letter and staying out of the fiasco wasn't an option; Seto Kaiba never gave in to enemy demands, and they would find that out soon enough. On the other hand, returning to Domino just might confuse the Rare Hunters and cause them to lay down their guard.

Departing out of the hotel doors, he hired a taxi.

"Where to, Sir?" the driver asked.

Seto pondered over his options: either the airfield or the theater. He sighed, inwardly; this shouldn't have to be this difficult.

"The Theater District—44th Street," he said, at last.


	18. Broadway

It was only natural for Téa to be nervous, what with being an hour away from achieving what she had been waiting for. It seemed like only yesterday that she had bought her first pair of dancing shoes and attended her first lesson.

"_I've come a long way_," she realized, trying desperately to quell the butterflies in her stomach. "_I just wish that Yugi and the others could be here to see this… But Kaiba will be here; that means something…_"

Téa yelped as someone started to knock upon the door of her dressing room; her nerves were especially jumpy that night.

"Kaiba!?" she asked, upon opening the door. "What are you doing here--?"

He entered the room, indicating her to be quiet.

"Kaiba, what's going on?" she asked.

"You can't perform tonight, Gardner," he said. "You need to get out of here."

"I thought we went through this already," she said. "This is the last dance for me; I'll quit the troupe after that."

"And if you don't quit right now, it just might _be_ your last dance," he replied, handing her the letter he had received.

"Well… they can't do anything to me during the show," she said, after reading it. "I'll quit immediately after it; I'll go straight home after that."

"Don't you understand!?" he growled, through gritted teeth. "This isn't some little game of Duel Monsters that the Rare Hunters are playing here; your life's at stake, Gardner!"

"So what do you want me to do!?" she asked. "I'm forty-five minutes away from my dream, and you want me to leave now?"

"If you leave, at least you'll still have a chance to dream," Seto informed her.

"Look, Kaiba, I already told Kayser when we got back to Philadelphia that I wouldn't be joining them for the European tour," she informed him.

"You _told_ him you were quitting!?" Seto asked in disbelief. "Do you realize that's going to make him more suspicious than ever!? They won't let you go, Gardner; why else would they send me this letter? Believe me; they have plans for you, and you won't like them."

"What are you trying to say? Do you think that they're going to open up a trapdoor at the very end of the show and throw me in a dungeon?" she asked, sounding more like Seto than herself.

"If they do, good riddance," Seto retorted. "Why did I even come here?"

"Why did you?" asked Téa, her voice softening slightly. "You came because you wanted to help me."

"Gardner, I already told you that you were just a part of the case; I never intended--"

"I never intended to get caught up in this case, either," she said. "I was here to chase after the dream I've had since I was little. But I got involved for the same reason that you're here right now: we care about each other."

"Maybe _you_ do," he replied. "I'm only giving the help that I'm expected to give. And in spite of all of my warnings, you still insist on placing yourself at risk. I've done all I can, Gardner. I'm going back to Domino."

"I thought you were staying for the performance!" she asked, slightly shocked.

"I realized that it doesn't matter what I do," he said, turning to leave.

"But you have to stay!" she said. "I told you, it means so much to have someone there on an evening such as this. And it meant so much more when I thought that it was going to be you."

"Don't you think that Yugi or Wheeler would be a better audience than me?" he asked, derision evident in his voice

"Don't get me wrong, Kaiba; I would have loved for all of my friends to be here in the audience tonight," Téa said, absentmindedly grasping the photographs in her valise. "And they would love to be here, too. But your being here is something altogether different. I've learned to care about you in the past, Kaiba. But sometimes, caring turns to love." There was a long pause, as she realized what she had just said. "And that's what's happened here; that's why I had to help you. That's why I tried my best to stay with the case."

"I figured as much," Seto replied. "I suppose I should give you credit for summoning the courage to finally tell me, instead of yet another vague confession. How long has this been going on?"

Téa turned away for a moment, sighing as the weight of her emotions left her. She glanced into the mirror, gazing at his reflection.

"I finally realized it that night you were knocked into the pier," she said. "Everyone thought that you had drowned, and I realized that you had left without knowing how I really felt… just like Atem; I never got to tell him, either. I don't know why I waited this long to tell you."

"You hinted at it well enough," Seto admitted. He said nothing else, until he glanced at the clock again. "Your dance is in twenty minutes."

"I know."

"You aren't leaving, though?"

"No, but thanks for your concern," she said, still glancing at the mirror.

"Good luck," he said, somewhat brusquely. He started to leave.

"Kaiba!" she said, turning around. He paused, his back still to her. "Kaiba, are you leaving just like that?"

"I really shouldn't be back here in the first place," he pointed out, speaking rather hastily, in Téa's opinion. "It'll provoke suspicion. Neither of us can afford that, but you especially can't."

"Kaiba, I just told you something—a secret that no one else knows!" she said. "Didn't that mean _anything_ to you?"

He turned to face her, the two pairs of blue eyes momentarily gazing at each other. He looked as though he was about to say something, but, in the end, he decided against it.

"I'll be in the audience somewhere," he said at last. And with that, he departed the dressing room. He shut the door behind him but didn't leave at the moment; he was too busy gathering his thoughts. He knew what she had been asking for; she had wanted to know if her feelings had been returned.

Seto couldn't help but frown; he thought that he knew himself better than anyone. But this was a question that he wasn't able to answer just yet. And yet, he knew that the fact that he was once again delaying his return to Domino might very well mean something.

But it still wasn't enough.

And on the other side of the door, Téa merely continue to stare blankly at the painted wood. Whether veiled confessions or a true confession, Seto's reaction had been exactly the same. His face hadn't shown any sign of emotion (aside from slight bemusement), and his true feelings were still a mystery—more mysterious than the Case of the Morse Code Dancing.

Five minutes later, Kayser appeared at the door, telling her to get onstage. Silently, she joined the others.

"Aww, come on, Téa," said Aurus, as he noticed her pale. "This is no different than our other shows, aside from the few changes in steps. You've nailed every performance down cold; why should this one be any different, just because we're in a huge theater in a huge city with a huge audience watching us?"

"_It's not the audience_," Téa thought. "_It's just one of them…_"

"And what's this I hear about you leaving us?" he asked.

"Listen, Aurus; it's been a great time, traveling around with you guys," she said. "But I'm just too homesick to stay. I'll be going with you guys on the flight to Boston tonight, and I'm going to Domino from there while you guys head to Salem for your next short vacation before the European tour. But you can bet that I'll be keeping in touch with you guys."

"I was hoping that my cousin was trying to make some sort of crazy joke when he mentioned that you were going to quit," he replied, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. "You were the best dancer we've had in ages, Téa… not to mention a good friend, too. You know, those guys back in Domino are very lucky to have you as their friend."

"And I guess I'm lucky to have them," she said. She couldn't help but wonder… if the Rare Hunters hadn't been affiliated with the elder Kayser, would she have stayed for the European tour? Or would homesickness have lured her back to Domino regardless of what would have happened? And would Kaiba have found some excuse to come?

She would never know. All she could do was wait for the evening to be over, and it wasn't easy; each passing second seemed like a millennium. Finally, the music began as the thick curtain parted, and that was when she made her decision.

This performance would be her best. She would dance on Broadway as she had always dreamed, and she would be sharing it with someone dear to her… even if she wasn't as dear to him.

And Seto was in his seat, writing out the Morse code message as the dance began. But his eyes eventually began to follow Téa, without even realizing it. He couldn't help but notice how all of her nervousness had seemingly vanished… all of those mixed, confused emotions… most of which were directly caused by him. It was almost admirable…

And it was slightly ironic; it had only been a couple months ago that he had been sitting in the audience, watching her in _The Sound of Music_. Then, he had been certain that he could never be able to love her. Now though, she was, for all practical purposes, a Broadway star (albeit for one night only), seeming more than ever like the free spirit she always was, in spite of carrying the weight of her emotions. Being so far from her home and her friends was one weight; trying to confess her feelings was something else altogether. And as the CEO watched her, even he was wondering if maybe, by some chance, his feelings from two months prior had somehow changed. Was that even possible?

He shook the thought from his head; now wasn't the time to worry about that. He continued taking down the rest of the message.

* * *

The show ended, finally, after what seemed like an eternity for both Seto and Téa. She could see him applauding along with everyone else, and she wanted to thank him again (also wondering as to what he had done with the Thank You chocolate bar that she had bought for him back in Pennsylvania). Even if he didn't share the feelings she felt, he had still bothered to be there tonight. And for Téa, that meant a lot, especially when Seto's personality was taken into consideration.

Seto was in the theater lobby, getting ready to head back to that hotel, as the decoding results appeared on his pocket computer screen.

"_I'm beginning to think that you may have been right about Miss Gardner after all; she told me that she wanted to leave the troupe as soon as I had arrived back in Philadelphia. And if that was not enough, Kaiba showed up in New York the same day we arrived; one of the Earth dancers recognized him. I wasn't sure if it was a coincidence, so I will be slipping a message into his room, warning him to stay away from my troupe. And I'll add in a mention about Gardner, too; I'm still not sure as to what her connection to him is. We'll have to suspend any further progress with the plan until the European tour. As for Miss Gardner… I am still unsure as to how much she knows about our operation, but I'm not taking any chances. She thinks that she'll be leaving when we arrive in Boston later tonight. I'll convince her to join us for our two-day stay in Salem. That will give me the time I need to forge her signature on the European tour contract; she will have no choice but to join us. And if she still refuses to join us for either Europe or Salem… we'll put the backup plan into effect. She cannot return to Domino now; according to Miss Vulsor, there will be trouble if she alerts Muto about this._"

The CEO halted in his tracks, staring at the screen with a mixture of shock and fury.

"_Gardner, why didn't you listen to me!?_" he mentally yelled at her. "_I __knew__ something like this was going to happen! You're so innocent and unassuming, you think that everyone else is the same way… that isn't the way things are, Gardner, and you're about to find that out the hard way…_"

He knew very well that she had brought this upon herself, but that still didn't change the fact that she would need help. His return to Domino would have to be delayed again.

Checking his email, he was unpleasantly surprised to discover that Téa had sent him a quick message.

"_Thanks again for watching the show, Kaiba. We're heading to Boston right away; I expect I'll be in Domino in about a day._"

"If you only knew…" the cerulean-eyed youth muttered under his breath. There was no other alternative; somehow, he would have to meet with Téa when the troupe reached Massachusetts.


	19. The Illusionist's Trap

Upon his arrival to Boston, Seto was dismayed to discover that Téa _had_ changed her mind. She had sent him another email while he had been in flight.

"_Slight change of plans; Kayser's practically pleading with me to stay for a couple days in Salem. I'll be heading back to Domino after they leave for Europe. I guess I'll see you when I get back home_."

"Wonderful… just wonderful…" Seto muttered, sarcastically, as he redirected the jet to Salem. "You're playing right into their hands. At this rate, you'll be lucky if you ever see Domino again."

It was frustrating. Even after all of the warnings he had given her, telling her that she was in danger, she had chosen to ignore him, insisting on one last dance. What would the Rare Hunters do to her?

"_Gardner, I know you don't take anything I say into consideration, but for the first time in your life, listen to me!_" he said, in his reply message. "_You cannot go to Salem. Go back to Domino; you'll be in great danger if you stay with them for a moment longer._"

"Listen to me; I sound like I came out of a movie…" he said to no one in particular.

"_But I'm already on the bus; we're already on our way there_," she replied. "_What do I do?_"

Well, that complicated things…

"_Did they tell you what you're going to be doing while you're there?_" he asked.

"_We're checking into the hotel, and then we're sightseeing as a group_," she said. "_I think we're going to be looking at some of the historic sites all afternoon. Then, after dinner, we're going to see some sort of show, and we're heading back to the hotel after that._"

"_Alright_," he replied. "_After things quiet down, and everyone's asleep, come and find me; I'll tell you later where I'll be. I'll take you to Domino, and we can finally put this mess behind us._"

Seto would not be sorry to see this mystery come to a close. He had all the evidence he needed. Kayser would pay for trying to ruin Kaiba Corporation. Seto's name would be cleared. And Téa would be safe, back with the friends she adored so much, with being able to say that she had danced on Broadway. Perhaps a legitimate dance troupe would someday pick her up, and she would live happily ever after, dancing upon the stage.

…But there was that slight complication of her feelings for him. He had carefully avoided the subject, in spite of her confession, but he knew that he would have to say something about it sooner or later.

But that could wait; if Téa didn't get away from Kayser, there was every chance in the world that it would no longer matter how she felt about Seto. And whether he returned those feelings or not, Seto knew that he did not want to see her gone; his brother would be too upset…

And _he_ would be too upset.

* * *

Téa had to admit that she was concerned about Seto's warning. But there was the knowledge that nothing could happen to her while she was in full view of the other dancers; not even the Rare Hunters were foolish enough to try anything in broad daylight, with witnesses. No; she would have to keep an eye out for trouble after the sun went down. Fortunately, though, Seto would help her escape and get back home before anything could happen.

"_I can't believe how he's going out of his way to help me_," she thought. "_He never would have done this before…_" She halted her thoughts; there was no point in getting her hopes up, in case he wasn't ready to return her feelings. And yet, she couldn't help but see the significance of his willingness to aid her. Seto Kaiba wasn't exactly Mr. Dash-Gallantly-to-the-Rescue, though the image of it made her smile. "_They'll never believe this back home…_"

Her mind was elsewhere as they visited the historic houses and sites of Salem, and the others noticed.

"Y'know, I'm glad you're with us before you have to head back home," said Aurus. "But your mind hasn't decided to join you. Are you thinking about going home?"

"I have to admit that I am," she replied. "I'm looking forward to seeing some familiar faces."

"Anyone particularly special?" asked Caerii, reminding Téa of Mai. "You've been having a dreamy look in your eyes all morning."

Téa blushed. Had it been that obvious!?

"Yeah, I knew it…" said Aurus, with a sad little smile. "You've clearly had someone on your mind for a while now. I noticed it from the start, actually… that was why I never asked…"

Téa turned to him, unsure of what to say.

"He's a lucky guy," Aurus went on.

"Can you please tell him that?" Téa replied, almost immediately, causing Aurus and the Tessurcas to laugh. And in the back of her mind was the welcoming thought that she would soon be laughing with her friends back home once again; she had already informed them that she would be on her way back that night. They had all sent their replies, all reflecting on how it was great that she was coming back home, right after her successful Broadway performance.

These were the thoughts that filled her head as they headed to dinner, and then to the after-meal entertainment.

"What are we going to see, anyway?" asked Caerii, glancing over her brother's shoulder to read the program he was holding.

Aurus also tried reading over Hesper's shoulder and announced, "It looks like some sort of amateur magician's act in a local performing arts center; sounds interesting enough. But it's ironic, isn't it? A couple hundred years ago, magic was absolutely forbidden…"

The warning bells began to ring in Téa's head. Something didn't seem right about this. Unobtrusively, she sent Seto another message, sending him the details of the show as she, too, began to read over an annoyed Hesper's shoulder.

She was certainly on her guard as the show began, but her fears began to alleviate as she noticed that the man upon the stage was not wearing a mask.

"_Wait a second… didn't Kaiba say that Arkana was wearing stage makeup when he tried to infiltrate the business meeting?_" she reminded herself. "_It could still be him… and if it is, I'll have to keep a close eye on him; I wouldn't be surprised if he's using a similar stage version of Morse code to communicate with Kayser… I wonder what he could be saying…_"

But, to her surprise, the magician didn't make a false move throughout the entire show. In any other situation, Téa would've ignored it, but her intuition was incessantly signaling to her that something was wrong. She resolved to find an opportunity to investigate.

And she got her wish; during intermission, the person in charge of the lighting "accidentally" (for it remained to be seen if it was truly an accident, or if it was the doing of a Rare Hunter) hit the wrong switch, resulting in a loss of lighting. As the people around them began to panic and move in a crowd, Téa chose the opportunity to escape from the group.

"Téa?" asked Aurus, as she was separated from the dancers. "Téa where'd you go!?"

She had to pretend not to hear him, making a mental note to send him an email later, apologizing for her brief exit.

Because of her previous experiences with the world of the stage, finding the way to backstage in the midst of the dark and the crowd wasn't a difficult task. Instinct took her to a staircase which lead to the top of the stage. She heard a quiet roar and felt a faint breeze as the curtain closed.

She took the time to send another quick email to Seto, detailing her whereabouts.

"_This magician, whoever he is, wasn't acting suspicious at all, but I think I'll have a look around; this blackout makes for the perfect cover. I'll let you know if I find out anything._"

Quietly, she ascended the short flight of stairs and stepped behind the curtain as the dim backup lights finally activated. All of the magician's props were strewn upon the stage, and she carefully made her way, inspecting them as she walked. Drawing back the garish tablecloth, her heart skipped a beat as large, white doves stared at her from a cage, their heads tilted inquisitively as they regarded the new arrival.

The doves cooed slightly, and Téa retreated, afraid that they might betray her presence. She looked around at the other objects: wands and silk hats, a levitating table, and the infamous "volunteer" cabinets. Everything seemed to be in order as she inspected them, the doves cooing in the background. Her search led her to the cabinet, and she opened the door. Again, there was nothing.

The doves' cooing became louder and more frantic, as though something was disturbing them. Téa turned, and beheld the sunken eyes of Strings, whose face still sported a bruise from when she had hit him with the door during their last encounter in Pennsylvania.

She didn't even have time to scream as the blow descended upon her.

* * *

Seto, in the meantime, was patiently biding his time by sitting in the lobby of the hotel, reading the latest financial news. His eyes scanned the small crowd of dancers as the entered.

"_They're early…_" he thought, recalling that Téa had told him about them attending a show. But as he watched them enter, he noticed that Téa was not among them.

His fingers clenched the newspaper; something was wrong. But now the elder Kayser had noticed him, and greeted him.

"Small world, isn't it, Mr. Kaiba?" he asked. "I don't believe that I've seen you since Chicago?"

"I'd have to agree," the young CEO replied. It was impossible to tell that something was worrying him; his voice and expression were as calm and unemotional as ever. Only the pounding of his heart (which had once been stone cold) could have betrayed his concern. "I'm here on a business meeting; I suppose you're here for another performance?"

"No; we're here on a short break, until I find a new dancer of fire," he replied. "One of my dancers had a family emergency and left us a couple days ago."

Seto caught the lie right there, though he refused to allow himself to react to it. He continued to glance at his paper, as though he was only half-interested in what the devious man had to say.

"It was that talented young lady I introduced you to in Chicago," Kayser went on. "She was from Domino, apparently; did you know her?"

"If she's not a duelist, and if she's not a businesswoman, then I seriously doubt it," he replied.

A slightly perplexed Kayser excused himself to usher the dancers to their rooms. Aurus' inquiries as to Téa's whereabouts could be heard across the lobby until a stony glare from his cousin forced him to be quiet.

Seto checked his email, finding the messages that Téa had sent a couple hours ago. He, too, felt a sense of foreboding at the mention of the magician, and he was not pleased to see that she had taken the investigation into her own hands yet again.

"_You need to get out of there now_," he said in his reply, as he headed to the performing arts center himself. "_Where exactly in that theater are you?_"

She didn't send back a reply. A quick message to Mokuba gave him a tracking signal for her handheld computer.

Upon his arrival at the theater, he saw a bunch of workers moving the magic equipment to a rental van.

"What's all this?" Seto inquired, casually.

"The guy who performs this act is going on the road—to London, I think," said one of the movers, as he and his assistant moved a large cabinet into the truck. "He said he needed all of this to be at some private airfield in time for his flight; we'll be cutting it close, though—it leaves in about an hour. But it's only about twenty miles, so we should be alright…"

Seto wasn't interested in any of that. He entered the darkened public theater as the truck drove away; apparently, after seeing everyone leave, the lazy lighting operator decided to work everything out the next day. Guided by the dim backup lights and the tracking signal, Seto went off in search of Téa.

The signal led him to the stage, but there was no one in sight. Perhaps she was hiding, thinking him to be an enemy.

"Gardner?" he asked.

She did not reply, and he proceeded to follow the signal. And that was when he noticed Téa's handheld computer, smashed upon the floor; someone had deliberately broken it.

The CEO gathered the broken electronic equipment in his hand. The entire blackout must have been set up by the Rare Hunters; they knew that Téa would not have been able to resist taking a look around. But where was she now?

"_They'd never leave her here; she'd be able to find a way out on her own_," he thought. "_Chances are that they'd take her to wherever the dance troupe is headed next… But how would they get her there without anyone noticing…?_"

Checking the itinerary that Téa had sent him a few weeks ago, it seemed as though they were heading for London. And then the image of the magician's cabinet returned to his mind.

"_No_…" he thought, his eyes widening in horror. How could he have been so blind!? She had been carried out right under his nose!

Researching as to where this twenty-mile-away airfield was, he found his own transportation there. He arrived in time to see the private plane take off. Teeth gritted, he clenched his fist, forcing himself not to strike out in his rage. He hadn't expected to arrive in time, but he could see Arkana's leering face, taunting him for being a mere sixty seconds too late.


	20. Betrayed

The first thing that Téa was aware of when she came to was the sound of a faint voice; someone was speaking in a nearby room. She shook her head slightly, trying to clear the cobwebs in her mind. What had happened? She had been searching the stage, and had come across Strings…

A new sound now reached her ears: the cooing of the white doves. Opening her eyes, she saw that she was no longer in the theater, but was in some sort of store room where all of the magic equipment was being kept. But that soon became unimportant as she realized that she was inside a box on the magician's table, her head and feet just visible, while the rest of her was concealed by the box, which had a slit in its center to allow for the blade.

Confusion turned to horror. Left with no other option, she could only scream for help. Footsteps answered her cries, but it was not a rescue party; Arkana himself entered the room.

"Nice to see you finally awake, Miss Gardner," he said, in that deceivingly soft voice of his. "I'd ask if you enjoyed your flight, but you seemed to have slept right through it."

"But… why am I here?" she asked, not even sure where "here" was. "I just got a little lost when the lights went out; I didn't mean any harm--"

"And do you really expect me to believe that?" asked Arkana. "We've had reports that someone has been spying on our Rare Hunter meetings for a long time, and now we've proven that it's you. Fortunately, you don't seem to know the exact details of our plans, but you know far too much."

"What are you going to do to me!?" she asked, horrified, struggling to escape from the box. It was no use; her wrists and ankles were bound by the straps that came with the box. "Look, just get me out of this thing; I… I think it's making me claustrophobic--"

"Now don't go to pieces," he said, smirking at his own horrid joke. "You may learn to get used to it. After all of your eavesdropping, I'm sure you've heard of how I'd be more than willing to take you in as my assistant…"

"No!" she said, trying harder than ever to escape her prison without success.

"There's nothing to worry about, my dear," said Arkana. "Everyone knows that the old 'saw-the-girl-in-half' trick is just that—a trick."

"And you expect me to believe that you wouldn't arrange for an 'accident' to happen!?" she fumed. "I wasn't born yesterday!"

"Well, if you don't wish to be my assistant, you could always join the Rare Hunters…"

"Never!"

"I don't see why you're so against the idea," he said. "After all, you've been aiding our plans for the past several weeks. I'd say that you're practically one of us already. Just take the oath, and it'll be official."

"You took advantage of me and all of the other dancers!" Téa retorted. "We never intended to aid your crazy schemes… whatever they are!"

"Ah. Miss Gardner, your morals are amusing," said Arkana. "Bandit Keith himself has mentioned how he needs to give you credit for eluding us for more than six weeks, and all alone, too…"

"_So they still can't tie me in with Kaiba… that might be a good thing_," she thought. "_That still means that he's on the case; he must've gotten my message. I hope he won't have any trouble finding me; I don't even know where I am…_"

"Keith seems to think that it would be a shame for your talents to go to waste," the illusionist went on, finally freeing her from the box. "So I've been instructed to give you a week to think. Let me know if you reconsider."

"And if I don't?" she asked, already knowing the answer.

"Then you'll be finding yourself with a new career in the magic industry," he replied, trying his hardest not to look too smug.

"_A short career, you mean_," she thought, derisively. She felt for her handheld computer in her pocket, but couldn't find it.

"Oh, yes; your little communication device…" he said, giving her an annoyingly pleasant smile, as though he was a gracious host. "You'll find that Strings took care of that for you. Unfortunately, it seems that electronics these days don't do too well with falls."

Without another word, he left, locking the door of the storage room, leaving Téa alone in her misery. Not only did she have no way of contacting the outside world, she had lost the present that her friends had given her. And there was no way to contact Seto and let him know what had happened.

"_Why didn't I listen to him? He must've told me about a dozen times to go home; if I'd taken his advice, I would be back with the others right now…_"

Her thoughts trailed off as she glanced around the room. There were no windows, and there was only one (locked) door. But there was a ventilator, several feet off of the ground.

She glanced back at the table and box that had once been holding her. After making sure that Arkana wasn't coming back, Téa moved the table and box beneath it and succeeded in removing the grate, and then going through the vent. After several tense minutes of wandering through the ventilator passageways, she found her way outside.

Her head turned towards a clock tower as it began to toll. To her amazement, she recognized the clock; it was the iconic clock of Westminster Abbey. Somehow, Arkana had successfully taken her across the Atlantic without anyone being the wiser. But knowing where she was didn't help; it would only be a matter of minutes until Arkana found out that she had escaped.

She paused as a news article caught her eye. Apparently, the Dancers of the Elements were redirecting their next performance to Dublin instead of London. Something was up.

She went directly to the police, unsure if her story would be believed; it was a rather crazy one.

"I know it sounds unbelievable," she said. "But Seto Kaiba can back up my story. I need to contact him; this whole fiasco concerns him, too."

She knew Seto's cell phone number, though had never used it before; Mokuba had given it to Yugi and to the rest of the group in event of an emergency. And this certainly qualified as one.

"You aren't out of the woods yet," Seto reminded her, concealing the fact that he was relieved that she had successfully escaped. "It's clear that you know too much for the Rare Hunters' liking."

"I know, but what I want to know why the troupe suddenly decided to go to Dublin instead of here," Téa replied. "Can I meet you there, Kaiba? I'd rather not be in this alone after what just happened."

"You should go home," Seto replied. "But there's every chance that the Rare Hunters will follow you and stop you before you can reach Domino. I guess you _are_ better off with me. Take the next train, and make sure you aren't followed. You'll be able to find me at the docks on the east side."

"Right," she said, and she hung up, feeling slightly relieved.

* * *

After being assured by the police that the dance troupe would be placed under surveillance, Téa proceeded to catch her train (keeping an eye out to make sure that none of the passengers were Rare Hunters in disguise). She reached Dublin the next day, but before she could find Seto, someone found her.

"Téa!?" came the stunned voice of Aurus, as he and the Tessurcas ran over to her. "What happened to you!? You just vanished into thin air back in Salem; we didn't know what happened…"

"Kayser's been worried about you," said Caerii. "He got a call from someone yesterday, saying you were lost. Come on, you have to meet him; he's going to be so relieved…"

"No, I don't think so," said Téa. Meeting Kayser was the last thing she wanted to do now. "Please, guys; I just want to go home."

"Téa, what's wrong?" asked Aurus. "Did something happen when you got lost?"

"You could say that. It… it's his fault that I'm so homesick," she bluffed. "I just want this to stop."

"Sweetie, you should tell him that yourself," said Caerii. "But he doesn't seem to be around at the moment."

"Where is he?" she asked, intrigued. Perhaps she and Seto would be able to catch him red-handed if they moved quickly enough.

"He's meeting someone; said it was urgent business," said Aurus, with a shrug. "I know that he's been trying to find you for days."

"_I'll bet…_" thought Téa, as her three former colleagues led her towards the hotel. She glanced behind her, at the docks, as she walked away. "_How long will Kaiba wait there for me…?_"

She need not have worried so much; Seto had only just arrived, and was contacting several members of his security team, determined to bring all of this to a close. He also sent the details of the latest day's developments to Mokuba, who promised to alert Yugi and the others about what had happened as soon as possible.

"_It's really lucky that Téa managed to escape on her own_," the boy had said in his reply. "_But would you have saved her if she hadn't been able to? I know you would have; that isn't really my question. My question is if you would have rescued her because it was something you would have wanted to do, rather than something you were compelled to do…_"

Seto knew his brother better than anyone; this was Mokuba's clever way of trying to see if he had any feelings for Téa.

"_I could've been back in Domino days ago, Mokuba_," he replied. "_But whether I'm here by my own choice or not remains to be seen._"

But this was a rare occasion; he wasn't being fully truthful with his younger brother. He knew that he was in Dublin purely by his own choice; there was nothing stopping him from returning to Domino—nothing except his own maddening feelings that Téa had successfully set free.

His pride had finally lost a battle. But it was strange… the loss didn't seem so terrible.

* * *

"He did _what_!?" Aurus blurted out.

It had been quite a revelation to all of them; the entire troupe had rejoiced to see Téa safe and sound, and they all crowded around her in the lobby. She chose that moment to tell them about the Morse code dancing, and how Kayser had turned to Arkana to get rid of her because she had known too much. She refrained from mentioning anything about Seto; he would not have appreciated being dragged into the conversation.

"I'm willing to bet that Kayser is meeting with Arkana right now to figure out where I've run off to," she said. "But if we move fast, we should be able to go to the police and have them pick him up."

She headed for the hotel doors, expecting the crowd of dancers to follow her, but she was stunned to see that none of them had made a move.

"What's going on, you guys?" she asked. "Don't you want to report him?"

Caerii drew a deep sigh, and spoke for the group.

"Téa… try to understand our position. You just signed on; you still have a home and everything. We don't have that; this is all we have. This is the life we've known for several years. If Kayser is taken in, our one way of life will be over. What will we do then, Téa?"

"You… you can't be serious!" Téa gasped. "You mean you're going let yourselves go on and act as a means of communication for the Rare Hunters!? Do you even know what those creeps are like!? That crazy magician was going to saw me in half!"

"We feel for you, Kid," said Hesper, half-heartedly. "But you've got to take one for the team."

"'Take one for the team…'?" she repeated. "To help the Rare Hunters is against every principle my friends and I stand by!"

"But you're one of us now, Téa," said Caerii. "Isn't your loyalty with us?"

Téa glanced around from the faces of the Tessurcas, to the other dancers, and to Aurus, who looked as stunned and devastated as she did.

"I'm sorry," said Téa, disillusioned by the selfishness of her colleagues. "I'm going home."

"No; I don't think so…" said one of the other dancers, as two pairs of arms seized her (one of them was Hesper). "We can't have you betraying us."

"Take her to Caerii's room," said Hesper. "She can watch her."

Ignoring Téa's protests, they took her to the room. Aurus watched them go, an unreadable expression on his face. He seemed to be waging a private war within himself, which the others were oblivious to.

After the dancers left Téa in the room, they proceeded to return to the lobby and wait for Kayser to return, leaving Caerii with the task of making sure that Téa didn't escape.

"I'm so sorry, Téa," she said, her apologetic tone sounding almost genuine.

Téa said nothing, only able to stare into the face of her captor, whom she had assumed to be a friend all this time. She had only wanted to chase her dream. But now a nightmare had caught ahold of her.


	21. The Jackal's Curse

Hours passed by. Caerii did not talk to Téa; she merely avoided her gaze. Apparently, she was feeling guilty for putting Téa through this, but not guilty enough to let her go. And all Téa could do was go over the chain of events of the previous month and try to figure out where exactly everything had gone so wrong.

There was a knock on the door, and Caerii opened it to allow Aurus to enter.

"What's up?" she asked.

"Hesper said for me to take over here while you go eat dinner," he replied.

"Right," Caerii replied. Without so much as a word to Téa, she left the room.

Aurus turned to Téa now, who seemed even miserable than before. She propped her face with her hands, staring a spot on the floor.

"_Et tu…?_" she thought, miserably. And to think that he had all but admitted that he had a crush on her…

Aurus crossed to the balcony, looking into the night.

"Do you think you can climb down the fire escape?" he asked.

Téa's head shot up, hardly daring to believe what she was hearing. Why would he turn against the troupe, not to mention his own cousin? She glanced at Aurus, who glanced back at her.

"But… I thought you… I mean, why would you...?"

"Why would I help you?" asked Aurus. "I dunno; call it a whim."

"They're going to be furious if they find out that you helped me escape," said Téa, crossing over to the balcony.

"Yeah, I know," he agreed. "That was why I was wondering if you'd let me go with you…"

Téa blinked. She knew that Seto would be furious is she let Aurus come along, but she couldn't abandon him—not after he was helping her escape. With a smile, she nodded.

"I think if we pool in all of our money, we should have enough to get out of here," said Aurus, handing Téa her suitcases; they had come with the troupe's luggage, so he saw the opportunity to return them to her.

"Oh, we don't need money," she said. "I have a friend waiting by the docks; he can take us out of here."

"Do you mean that he has tickets on the next flight out of here?"

"I would assume so; he owns it," she replied, as they made their way down the fire escape. "He's the man who met us back at the meet-and-greet: Seto Kaiba. He was at the hotel in Tokyo, too—remember?"

"Yeah… hey; he was the guy who looked like the statue head!" Aurus replied, his eyes widening as he recalled the statue.

"Did he?" asked Téa, trying to change the subject.

* * *

The wait by the docks was long and agonizing for Seto. Darkness had begun to fall, but she had not arrived. Where was Téa? Why wasn't she here yet? He knew that it was all too possible for the Rare Hunters to have caught up with her.

And yet, he shook the thought from his mind. She would be alright; he would have to trust in that (in spite of the being a difficult task for him). His main problem would be to figure out what it was he was going to say to her; it wouldn't be so simple as to greet her with opened arms and say that he accepted her feelings; that was a step too forward. But he could tell her of how he had been so concerned; there was no harm in that. And perhaps something could come from that; they would have to wait and see.

"Kaiba? Kaiba!"

He had to force himself to not turn around too quickly; he wasn't sure why he was maintaining such a façade, but he did so all the same. However, the momentary feeling that had come over him upon hearing Téa's voice (which had been vague reminiscent of _happiness_) vanished as he saw that she had someone in tow. He recognized the young man as the one whom he had been introduced to in Chicago; it was bad enough that she had brought someone else, let alone the mastermind's cousin. Seto turned away, trying to hide his disgusted expression. And to think that he had come very close to saying something to her… Well, she had ruined it for herself; he wasn't saying a word about his feelings in front of another person.

Téa could sense what he was thinking.

"Kaiba, you have to understand," she said. "If it hadn't been for Aurus, I never would've made it here today; I told the troupe about what Kayser was doing, and they all turned on me!"

"Why on Earth would you tell them!?" asked Seto, exasperated. Clearly, she wouldn't be learning her lesson anytime soon; what would it take to convince her once and for all that trusting others was too foolish?

All the same, he attempted to keep an open mind as he led them both to his jet; Téa was narrating the story of what had happened between London and Dublin. They were halfway to Madrid when Aurus added in how he thought that their dance steps were strange, but never would have guessed that they were dancing in Morse code.

"Téa really opened everyone's eyes, even if they didn't agree with her," he said. "She's quite a girl; don't you think so?" Seto cast him a cold glare in reply, and he turned back to Téa. "You're going home to Domino to hang out with friends like this…?"

"They're not all like him," she informed Aurus.

"And we're not going to Domino," said Seto. "I tracked Kayser's cell phone signal to Rome; after refueling the jet in Madrid, we'll take him by surprise."

"No wonder he vanished so quickly…" mused Aurus. "But Rome wasn't on our itinerary; what's he doing there?"

"Undoubtedly meeting with more of the Rare Hunters," Seto replied. "Now if you don't mind, I prefer to have absolute silence while I'm flying this jet."

Aurus glanced at Téa with raised eyebrows, who shrugged in reply, as if to say, "_You'll get used to him…_"

"He's the one, wasn't he?" Aurus asked, softly, so that Seto couldn't hear over the roar of the jet. "He was the one you were thinking of all this time?"

Téa didn't reply to this, but she didn't have to; the look in her eyes told Aurus that his suspicions were correct. He turned away now, looking out the window of the craft, absent-mindedly tapping the Anubis medallion around his neck, bored.

But their arrival in Madrid led to an interesting revelation as they passed by a newspaper stand: a newspaper featuring the headline, "_Famosa Compañía de Baile Forzó a Disolver después De Combate de Hotel_."

"What does that say?" asked Téa, reading it.

"'_Famed Dance Troupe Forced to Disband after Hotel Fight_,'" Seto translated, a satisfied expression crossing his face. "Apparently, some Rare Hunters showed up in the Dublin hotel last night; I'm guessing that they were sent to pick you up. And when you vanished, all madness broke loose. And it somehow got loose about how 'one member of the troupe' had uncovered some underhanded secrets. Kayser was unavailable at the time, though he later called, saying that the Dancers of the Elements have officially disbanded and all performances are cancelled. So, that's done it; Kayser's lost his cover. There's nothing that can save him from being exposed as the mastermind behind this dancing scam."

"But what's going to happen to the dancers?" asked Téa.

"Why do you care?" asked Seto. "They obviously didn't care about how they were aiding this loser--"

"Kaiba, his cousin is standing right here…" she reminded him.

"Don't bother," said Aurus. "You have every right to be upset with him. So am I; that was why I started the fight."

"What!?" asked Téa.

"Yeah," he said, with a sheepish grin. "Someone had called my cousin, and he must've sent the Rare Hunters there. I sort of tripped them up and pinned it on someone else. That was when I convinced Caerii to swap places so that I could get you out of there."

Seto rolled his eyes; even he had to admit that sounded like something Joey Wheeler would've done.

* * *

"But if the Rare Hunters are still in Dublin, what's Kayser doing in Rome?" Téa was asking as they finally arrived in the historic Italian city several hours later.

"I think I know," said Aurus, and he pulled out his Anubis pendant. "A day before Téa showed up, he kept asking me for this pendant back. I thought he was crazy; he told me that it was a hideous trinket that was some sort of ancient costume jewelry. But I think he met with someone just before he asked me for it; he was a man with dirty blond hair and a nasty-looking expression."

"Bandit Keith," said Téa, exchanging a glance with Seto, who nodded in agreement. "He must want the pendant; I expected something like this with Anubis involved… Where did you say your cousin got it from? Didn't this used to belong to an opera singer who said it was cursed?"

"Yep, that's right," he agreed. "I think the woman who owned it was named by some Signora Gudiccelli; after discovering that it was cursed, she gave it to some researcher named Dr. Vulsor, who passed it down to her descendants. A lady named Aranea Vulsor gave the pendant to my cousin."

"What!?" Seto and Téa both exclaimed.

Aurus blinked. "You know her, too?"

"Unfortunately. But this helps to explain how that Carmen Sandiego act-alike became involved with the Rare Hunters," said Seto. "Vulsor must've known something about the pendant, told the Hunters about it, and gave it to Kayser."

"And he gave it to me so that I'd just lug it around everywhere for him," Aurus finished. "I wonder what's so cursed about it…"

"Well, I've heard of Signora Gudiccelli," said Téa. "She was involved with some fiasco in a Paris opera house a couple hundred years ago. Maybe one of her descendants lives here in Rome; he or she could tell us about what happened."

"And that's why Kayser is here, too," concluded Seto, as they passed by the Coliseum. He checked his handheld computer, searching in the inline directory. "He must be desperate to find the pendant; perhaps he wants to find out why Keith wants it so badly. Here it is… The Gudiccellis _do_ live here; Kayser might be trying to find them, too."

"So we need to get there first," Téa finished.

There was no time to stop and savor the city, however much Téa wanted to try some of the authentic Italian cuisine; they had to reach the Gudiccelli villa first. Fortunately, the villa looked calm and normal upon their arrival; Kayser had, apparently, not been able to find it first.

Téa was the one who explained their situation to the young lady who opened the door. She regarded the pendant with some apprehension as Aurus held it out to her; clearly, she knew something about it, but was reluctant to allow the cursed pendant into the house.

"But you still insist upon knowing," she said, with a shake of her head. Finally, she relented, and allowed them inside. She offered the three of them refreshments as she told them her story. "The portrait you see on the wall is of my ancestor, Carlotta Gudiccelli; that is her in costume, in her glory days as the lead soprano of the Opera Populaire. I assume you've heard the famous legend of the ghost who haunted the theater?"

Téa and Aurus nodded, though Seto rolled his eyes.

"The ghost drove my ancestor from the theater," she said. "After several years, she came back in the hopes of returning to her former glory."

"And based on the way you described that, I can assume it didn't work out that way," said Seto, emotionless.

"Indeed, it did not," she agreed. "Someone gifted that very same pendant to her. After a while, she claimed that it bewitched her mind…"

"_Again with the hocus-pocus…?_" Seto thought, derisively.

"Apparently, it was the work of Anubis himself," she went on, dropping her voice to a whisper. "There were lapses in her memory, and she was doing things without her own awareness. And there were voices… She would always hear strange voices. It was terrible, Signor Kaiba. But it all ended after she gave away the pendant. She never spoke about what exactly happened that made her realize the true horror of what was happening to her; she was reluctant to even admit that she was bewitched in the first place. It is still a mystery as to what exactly happened; there were a lot of secrets kept about it, Signor. They are secrets which no one must know."

Unbidden to the CEO's mind came the hazy memories from the time that Anubis had allegedly possessed him. He hadn't fully grasped what had happened that fateful day; perhaps his mind, in his relentless quest for rationality, had refused to let him admit that he had been possessed. And yet, the lapses in memory and the strange voices that the woman described seemed hauntingly familiar…

"Aurus, you haven't been having gaps in your memory or hearing voices, have you?" asked Téa, concerned.

He shook his head, wide-eyed, still holding the pendant in his hand.

Seto didn't want to think too much of Gudiccelli's story, in spite of how similar it seemed to his own. After all, Anubis was gone; perhaps that was why Aurus wasn't seeing any signs of the jackal-headed creature.

And yet the jeweled eyes of the medallion glared back at him. But that soon became unimportant as a frantic pounding was inflicted upon the villa door. Gudiccelli rose to answer it, but Seto held out an arm to stop her.

"Is something wrong, Signor?" she asked.

"I'll bet on it," he replied, his eyes narrowed. "Gardner, take a look through the window."

She did so, confirming his suspicions; Kayser had finally found his way to the villa, with a squad of Rare Hunters in tow.


	22. More Revelations

What ensued next was mass confusion. Gudiccelli was too frightened to open the door upon seeing the violet-robed men for herself, but the Rare Hunters weren't going to be left out so easily. Two heavily-built Rare Hunters started using their shoulders as battering rams to break the door in.

"What do we do…?" asked Téa, as the door shook on its hinges. Another strike, and it would break open.

"I don't know about you, but I'm not about to surrender to a bunch of recalcitrant thieves," Seto vowed.

The Rare Hunters ran at the door again, and as the hinges ripped free from the walls, confusion turned to pure madness. Gudiccelli fled into the adjoining room, praying that she hadn't been seen as the small group of Rare Hunters entered and attacked.

Fists flew as Seto attempted to judo throw the first assailant who came near him. He was successful, but Aurus failed to dive out of the way in time, getting clobbered by a stray shoe. He wasn't hurt, but the medallion slipped from his grasp.

Seto made a grab for the ancient trinket, but it soon became lost among the stampeding combatants. His attempts to retrieve it did result in a couple Rare Hunters being plowed aside.

His hand finally closed around the medallion as he heard the sound of splintering glass; someone else (another Rare Hunter, no doubt) had entered through the window. Seto looked up in time to see Strings standing before him.

"Not _again…_" he fumed, launching himself from the ground into an uppercut. Strings stumbled backwards, but now Lumis and Umbra came at him from behind.

Téa tried to yell out a warning, but a familiar hand clamped upon her mouth.

"Well, hello there, my little assistant…" Arkana mused. "I was afraid that I had lost you!"

Seto looked back upon hearing her muffled screams, but his lapse in concentration resulted in the numerous Rare Hunters surrounding him to gain the upper hand (however unfair it was). Aurus, too, was restrained, but Seto's main concerns were for Téa.

"Kaiba, Kaiba," said Kayser, with a shake of his head. "You had me fooled; I never would have guessed that you were in league with my prize dancer."

Téa flinched; the last thing she wanted now was for Kayser to taunt (and subsequently banish) what little friendliness that Seto showed to her.

"I know why you're doing this," Kayser went on. "You're still a little upset at the bad check, aren't you?"

"A _little_ upset!?" Seto fumed. "Oh, I think I'm far _beyond_ upset!"

"Well, it's clear that you don't know too much about our scheme," Kayser said. "We don't need to be enemies, Kaiba. How about I pay you back the money I owe you right now? I won't need to spend any money on hotel rooms, thanks to that girl's crazy ideas."

"What's the catch?" Seto asked, knowing that there had to be one.

"No catch at all, Mr. Kaiba," Kayser explained. "All we want is that you leave the girl and go home. We'll leave your company alone. All we want is the girl to be inducted; she owes us that much after all that she put us through. I've lost my cover, thanks to her."

Seto saw Téa pale as she heard the man's words. And he found himself silent. When he had embarked upon this quest, he had done so to protect his company. And now he was at a point where he could restore the Kaiba Corporation's good name, as he had intended to do.

But now there was a new, unforeseen complication: his feelings for Téa. There would've been a time (back when he had been seeking out Solomon's Blue-Eyes card) when he probably would have accepted Kayser's offer without a second thought. But now he could not.

"Why are you hesitating?" asked Kayser. "There's no need to worry, Kaiba; Bandit Keith will take good care of her; she'll be treated well under the wings of the Rare Hunters, especially with spying talents such as those. Who is she, anyway? She's just a little dancing girl, isn't she? She's far too unimportant for someone like you to bother with."

Seto flinched; Kayser sounded too much like his old, unconcerned self. And as he glared at him, the man tossed down a briefcase of money.

"I didn't think that you'd trust another check from me, so I decided to pay you back in cash," he said, opening the case before him. "And I even gave you some interest back; I don't want you as my enemy, Kaiba."

"It's a little late for that," the CEO snarled.

Kayser shrugged.

"But since I don't want you as my enemy, I humbly request that you take the money and leave us alone--"

"The odds are, ten to one, that it's counterfeit!" Seto retorted.

"Not at all!" insisted Kayser, in mock-outrage. "I did learn something from that check fiasco, you know. You wouldn't have come chasing me all around the world if you weren't so desperate for vengeance. If I tried to swindle you again, you'd be after my blood. So, just take the money, and we'll forget that this ever happened. It's a small price to pay for obtaining a new spy."

Téa struggled harder against Arkana's hold upon hearing this. She did not want to join the Rare Hunters, and she knew what would become of her if she did refuse. Her fate was in Seto's hands.

Arkana snarled as Téa attempted to free herself again. He placed a hand on a pressure point on the girl's neck. She beheld Seto's face one last time before she fell unconscious.

* * *

"Téa?" asked Aurus. "Téa!?"

The girl finally awoke after several hours. She and Aurus were no longer in the villa, but were in a completely different place altogether.

"Where are we? What happened?" she asked.

"We're in some warehouse in Berlin; we're going to be staying here until my cousin finds a new plane; Bandit Keith has the other one. My cousin mentioned that we're going to meet Keith in Paris. He's so busy looking for transportation that he hasn't had a chance to chew me out for letting you go."

"But how did we get here!?" she cried. "What happened to Kaiba? Where is he?"

"On his way back to Domino, I suppose," the dancer replied.

"You… you don't mean…"

"He sold us out," Aurus said, bitterly. "It turns out that his company was the most important thing for him."

Téa sank to the floor as her knees threatened to buckle. After everything she had said and done… after everything that they had been through… he was abandoning her like this!?

"I… I don't want to be a Rare Hunter…" she said, the world around her shattering to pieces with every passing moment. "Aurus, don't you think that there's some way we can--"

The door flew open to reveal Lumis and Umbra.

"Kayser wants a word with his traitorous cousin," snarled Umbra, as he and Lumis forced the boy out.

Aurus cast one last glance at Téa before the door closed, leaving her alone in the warehouse. She tested the door; there was no way it would budge. And even if, by some miracle, she had found a way out, there would be Rare Hunters everywhere, especially after how she had snuck out from under Arkana's nose.

She crossed over to the window, where she could see the buildings of downtown Berlin along the Spree. Only a set of bars upon the window separated her from the outside, but that was enough to keep her trapped.

But she was also a prisoner of her own feelings. She had wanted to believe that Seto was finally opening up to her… that he was changing… but no; he had gone back to his old egotistical self. She had come close to mattering, but now she was insignificant once again.

As the tears fell from her eyes, she noticed a familiar-looking youth furtively slip past from warehouse to warehouse, carrying a small package with him. He was obviously trying to avoid the Rare Hunters, and was trying to keep a low profile, but Téa recognized him immediately.

"Leon!?"

The boy leaped about five feet into the air before turning towards her.

"Téa!? What are you doing here!?" asked the violet-haired boy, running over to the window.

"I'm trapped," she explained. "Listen, Leon; there isn't much time. You need to contact Yugi and tell him that the Rare Hunters have me; they're going to take me to Paris, I think… Bandit Keith is there, and I think they're going to initiate me or something."

"Right," the boy said. "You can explain everything after we get you out of there; I'll tell my brother. He can help get you--"

"Leon, watch out!"

Strings had come out of nowhere, trying to seize Leon, but the young duelist dove out of the way.

"Leon, there isn't time!" cried Téa. "Go—quickly! Tell Yugi; tell _someone_!"

Leon dodged Strings' second capture attempt and escaped behind another warehouse. Strings glared at Téa, and then proceeded to stand silently outside the window, waiting for Leon to return.

While this was going on, Aurus was watching his cousin pace back and forth.

"I'm… sorry?" he offered.

"You lost the medallion!?" Kayser roared at him. "After carrying it around for all these years--?!"

"What was I supposed to do? You just came barging in and started brawling," Aurus retorted. "I think I saw Kaiba with the medallion, but I couldn't say anything; that would've looked too suspicious."

"Fine, fine," said Kayser. "What did you tell the girl after she woke up?"

"I told her that Kaiba took the money and went home," he said. The youth frowned at his cousin. "I hope you're happy; I didn't like having to lie to her. She's dying inside right now."

"You care for the girl, don't you?" asked Kayser. "What better way to win her admiration than by opening up her eyes to what a creep her crush really is?"

"That's the only reason why I went along with this," admitted Aurus. He was jealous of Seto Kaiba—jealous that he was the one who had won Téa's affections. But Aurus had concerns for Téa, too. Deep down, he didn't want to see her become a Rare Hunter; she was too good, too noble. That was why he had looked the other way during all of the times he had known she had been spying. He had seen her face as she had discovered that they had been dancing in Morse code. She was intelligent on top of graceful. But the wistful look in her eyes as she talked about home and her friends had made him realize that he was not a part of her world. He had almost come to accept it, but after seeing how Seto Kaiba was so undeserving of the feelings she had for him, he changed his mind. If she became a Rare Hunter, he would be a part of her world. And that was the only reason why he had allowed himself to betray her; it had been solely for her own good.

But there was one slight hiccup to the plan; Seto Kaiba _hadn't_ accepted the money. After Téa had been knocked out, another brawl had erupted, resulting in Seto (and about a half dozen Rare Hunters) being rendered senseless. Kayser had chosen that moment to escape. Aurus knew that the CEO would be furious when he regained his senses. But hopefully, by the time that occurred, Téa would already be inducted. And once she was a Rare Hunter, there was no leaving the organization; Aurus knew that all too well. His cousin had drafted him into the group, and now it was an inescapable part of him. But he held comfort in the thought that he could find solace in Téa when she donned the violet robe herself.

* * *

"Signor Kaiba? Signor Kaiba!?"

Seto shook away the mental cobwebs as Gudiccelli threw a glass of water on him to bring him around.

"Gardner…?" he asked, looking around. Night had fallen in the time that had lapsed. "Where's Gardner?"

"She is gone, Signor," said Gudiccelli, with a shake of her head. "They took the other boy with them, too. But it is odd; they did not take the medallion from you. I guess that they were keen on getting away."

Seto pulled the medallion from his pocket, looking over it. He didn't know what to make of it at first, but as he turned it over, he noticed something tiny attached to the gold with adhesive. It looked like part of a silicon chip, and he knew as well as the next person that the ancient Egyptians never used those in their jewelry.

"_A tracking chip…_" he realized, furious, removing the chip from the artifact. "_That other dancer __was__ working for them all long!_"

"I was still hiding as they left," said Gudiccelli. "I think I overheard them mention Berlin."

The CEO wasted no time; he had a contact in Berlin. He wasn't keen on asking this man (a business rival) for help, but he could not allow the Hunters to get away with Téa. He would have to ask the other businessman for assistance.

And that is why Siegfried von Schroeder found himself discussing the unusual case with Seto Kaiba.

"I must admit that I am curious, Herr Kaiba," said Siegfried, gazing out the window of his home office. "As the man said, you have your money; why do you still insist upon chasing after Fraulein Gardner when the rest of her friends would come to aid her in a heartbeat?"

"Don't bother trying to read into it," Seto growled. He may have been developing feelings for Téa, but he saw no reason for Siegfried to know that.

"Be that as it may, Herr Kaiba," the other businessman replied, biting back a smirk. "I have noticed a recent appearance of Rare Hunters, but as for any news of Fraulein--"

"Is that Kaiba!?" asked Leon, as he frantically ran into the office. "Tell him I know where Téa is! She's being held in a warehouse along the Spree until the Rare Hunters find transportation to Paris! Bandit Keith is there, and he's going to induct her has soon as they reach!"

"Did you hear that, Herr Kaiba?"

"Yes, I did," Seto replied. "There's every chance in the world that they might've left already. I'll head to Paris to cut them off, but you check out that warehouse and see if you can stop them if they're still there."

Siegfried stared at the phone as his business rival disconnected.

"_Sie Lieben _Gardner, Kaiba," he mused. "You love her, and you can't escape it."


	23. The Chase

Seto was halfway to Paris when he received a message from the von Schroeders that the Rare Hunters had fled the warehouse, taking Téa with them. Once again using the tracking signal to guide him, he followed the signal, all the while trying to comprehend his own actions.

He had his money; Kaiba Corporation was as good as restored. And yet he was risking so much to ensure Gardner's safety. There was no getting around it; he did feel for her. He had almost come close to telling her that, but she had to bring that traitorous Aurus along with her. And now she was paying for it.

The CEO sighed, trying to push back the feelings of worry. There was every chance that he would be too late—that Téa would already be initiated before he got there. He was hoping that she'd find some way to stall long enough for him to arrive. She was a strong, fiery spirit; she would be able to hold them off for a little while. Her spirit was what had stood out almost immediately; Seto had noticed that she wasn't one of the quiet girls who stood back, without saying a word. And she was one of the few people who possessed the nerve to stand up to him—and more than once.

But the Rare Hunters were a cruel and cold group of people; she would only be able to hold out for so long. And if she flatly refused, they wouldn't allow her to get far; Seto had seen the crazed look in Arkana's eyes.

There would plenty of time for him to excavate his feelings later; right now, he would have to reach Paris before his feelings became useless.

* * *

It was the height of summer, and yet Téa Gardner was shivering miserably as Kayser led her and Aurus through Paris. The city was illuminated with lights, but Téa's world was shrouded in the darkness of despair. She glanced around at the circle of Rare Hunters surrounding her, each one poised to cut off her escape if she indicated that she considered fleeing.

The strength that had been an essential part of her spirit was ebbing away with each step they took. She had been holding onto so many hopes and dream when she had left Domino, and now all of them had slipped through her fingers. They were beyond her reach, but taunted her all the same.

She still grasped on to whatever strength she had left; she resolved to herself that she would not cry in front of them, in spite of how crushed she was. She walked on, like Eowyn heading into battle. But it was all a façade; all this time, she had assumed that she and Seto were finally in this case together, and to be betrayed by him now was simply the last straw.

She wasn't angry with Seto; that was simply the way he was. She was more upset with herself for ever believing that he had changed. In spite of the memories of how they had worked together… how he had helped her in Pennsylvania, even though he was going out of his way… how he showed up at the theater to warn her to be careful… how she had embraced him—twice, even though he had not returned the embrace… It was all for nothing.

How ironic it was that her sorrow was due to the betrayal more than her fate. After all, there would be some way out of this predicament; even if she was inducted, Yugi would receive the word from Leon, and he and the others would soon get her out of here. She would only have to stall… unless they used some sort of mind control over her. That was possible, though she wasn't sure how, now that the Millennium Items were gone. Perhaps they would use the Anubis pendant…

"_The pendant!_" her mind exclaimed. "_Kaiba still has the pendant! Do they know about that? Did Aurus tell them?_"

She glanced at the silent Aurus, unaware of the lies he had previously poisoned her mind with. Her thought for him was that he would be able to find a way out of this, too; she could not have known that the boy was already a Rare Hunter, albeit against his will.

"Here we are…" said Kayser.

The man had led them to a clearly old manor house. The rusted iron gates were wrought into a family crest and opened into a path that was overgrown with foliage. The house itself was unkempt and in need of repair, though it must have been warm and luxurious in its prime; it had obviously been abandoned, and was now used as a headquarters for the Rare Hunters.

The old wooden doors opened, and Téa and Aurus were lead to the once-lavish drawing room. Bandit Keith was sitting in an old armchair by the fire, like a king on his throne; the cruel man gave a satisfied smirk as Téa entered the room. She tried not to meet the card shark's eyes, instead taking in the old room, which was draped with cobwebs and covered in dust. The firelight illuminated a large portrait of a tall, handsome blond man standing arm and arm with a curly-haired brunette woman. Just visible in the lower right-hand corner of the portrait were the painter's initials, nearly invisible in the dust: "O.G."

"This house isn't yours, I'll bet," accused Téa, for the blond man in the portrait looked nothing at all like Keith or any of his possible ancestors.

"Very good, Gardner," sneered Keith. "This is the famed Chagny Manor, once the grandest estate in all of France. Only the grandness of the Versailles Palace was said to have matched it. It was last owned by a 19th-century Viscount. He left the manor to his two daughters, but their travels took them far; they married and settled down in their new homes abroad. The Viscount remained here with his wife until the end of their days, and the manor was eventually abandoned. We felt that it would be a shame for it to go to waste."

"I thought you were a terrible person, but you've just hit an all-time low," Téa said, scowling. "You don't have any right to just barge in and take over the place, even if no one came back to claim it!"

"This manor will soon be your home, Gardner," Keith informed her. "This is where all of the Rare Hunters stay when we're not on assignment."

Téa's initial response was to retort that she didn't want anything to do with this, but she stopped herself; she was, after all, trying to stall for time.

"I'll have to give you credit, Gardner," said Keith. "When I first saw you at Duelist Kingdom, I never would've pegged you as someone who would've end up giving me a hard time, not to mention totally ruining this little dance troupe plot we had going along."

"I feel so honored," she replied, sounding more like Seto than herself. Apparently, they had both rubbed off on each other, however slightly. And that made the betrayal hurt all the more.

"We already have an assignment ready for you, Miss Gardner," said Kayser. "You see, Kaiba has that Anubis medallion that we need. I'm sure that after he sold you out, you wouldn't have any qualms in taking it from him."

"You want me to steal the medallion from Kaiba!?" she asked, stunned. It was almost perfect; she could escape without even having to meet with Seto at all. She couldn't rely on him to help her home; she would have to handle it herself. And yet, Kayser did mention that it would be an opportunity to get some sort of vengeance against Seto, who had sold her out…

Téa shook the thought from her head. Even if he had done that to her, she couldn't sink that low. She glanced around the house, trying to find something to discuss that would stall the time.

Bandit Keith seemed to be able to read her thoughts.

"There's no need to drag this out a moment longer," he said. "Arkana, bring Miss Gardner her new uniform. And Strings, bring the papyrus for her to sign. And Kayser… do me a favor and shut that cell phone of yours off before anyone else tracks down its signal!"

* * *

Unfortunately, Seto had been in the middle of Paris, tracking the signal when it finally shut off. He muttered something under his breath, trying to figure out a different way to find Téa.

"Where's a crazy informant when you really need one…?" he muttered to himself.

"_You do not need an informant, my friend._"

The CEO froze; he had heard this voice before, when he had been an inch away from death after being bitten by a funnel web spider. He had dismissed it then as a product of delirium, but now he was wide awake. He racked his brain for an explanation, and found nothing.

"I don't know who you are," said Seto. "But if you know where Gardner is--"

"_You do remember the general area the signal was, do you not?_" the voice replied. "_You will find your destination there._"

Seto didn't bother to discuss anything with the voice; he followed his instincts, trying to recall where the signal had been. He hadn't expected to end up at an old, abandoned manor house. He rammed the front door, which didn't budge, in spite of all of his efforts.

"_Don't bother going through the front door; the fiends will have sealed it with all five bolts_," said the voice. "_There is no alternative; you must go through the window. I am willing to lose it if it means getting those beasts out of my house._"

"Your house…?" Seto replied, incredulously. There was only one explanation—he was going crazy. The sleepless nights spent globetrotting, coupled with the jet lag, had undoubtedly had him hearing ghosts.

Meanwhile, inside the drawing room, Téa found herself in the violet robe that she despised so much. She tried to remain stoic, in spite of the horrible feeling that came with the garment. She was betraying her friends, even though they would understand that she had no choice. And she was betraying herself. But that feeling wasn't new; it seemed as though that everyone had betrayed her lately.

"It's you," smirked Keith.

She replied the thief with a cold glance, who merely held out a piece of papyrus and a small ink-tipped brush.

"We didn't think that you'd know how to write in hieroglyphs, so we did that part for you," said Keith. "All you need to do is sign."

Téa held the brush to the papyrus trying desperately to think of a plan. But panic was creeping in now; she couldn't focus her mind.

"We're waiting, Gardner; we don't have all--"

The drawing room window splintered to pieces with an ear-splitting crash as the trenchcoat-clad businessman made his entrance. Téa jumped, a blot of ink falling onto the papyrus as all heads turned to face the businessman. The brush slipped from her hand as she registered the new arrival.

Seto's eyes met hers, and he was unpleasantly surprised to see her in the violet robe. For a moment, he thought he had been too late, but upon realizing that she hadn't yet signed the papyrus, Seto proceeded to embroil in a fresh struggle with the Rare Hunters.

Bandit Keith was in no mood to fight with him here; he signaled the retreat, and the Hunters fled out the front doors.

"Téa!" called Aurus, extending his hand to her. "Come with me; I know where we can escape!"

She started to follow him, but Seto seized her arm.

"Let go of me, Kaiba," she ordered, her voice uncharacteristically icy. She pulled her arm away.

"Gardner, you can't go with him."

"Well, if you think I'm going to go with you after you sold us out, you have another thing coming!"

"Sold you out? What kind of nonsense are you talking about this time?" the CEO asked, genuinely perplexed.

"Aurus told me all about how you took the money and ran," Téa replied, as though she were stating the obvious.

"That's right; he can't make amends just like that," said Aurus, hoping that Téa would go with him before she discovered the truth.

"Gardner, he's one of them!" Seto said. "I found a tracking chip on the medallion; he led the Rare Hunters right to us!"

"What!? No way!" Aurus bluffed. "Whom are you going to believe, Téa? I was the one who stood by you all this time; he was the one who ran out on you!"

Téa didn't reply at first; she glanced from each young man to the other and back again, in mass confusion.

"I didn't run out on you Gardner; why else would I be here?" Seto retorted. "I could have gone back to Domino. I could have gone back weeks ago, rather than chase you all around the world, but I didn't. At first I had no clue as to why I was doing this to myself. But now I know; I couldn't let you face the Rare Hunters alone. You wouldn't have had a chance."

Téa frowned.

"And," he added. "I couldn't allow them to make you one of them. But that's exactly what your friend over there wants."

"I don't want you to be a Rare Hunter," said Aurus. "I didn't even want to be one myself. Can't you come with me, Téa? We can escape from my cousin together; we'll have a much better chance of getting away then."

"Well… I…"

"Gardner, do you even have to think about this?" asked Seto, frowning now. "You know that your entire crew of friends will be waiting for you right now in Domino. Just tell this lunatic to go off alone."

"Kaiba, look at me!" Téa said, finally allowing the tears to fall. "Look at this… this _monstrosity_ I'm wearing!" She indicated the violet robe. "I left Domino to chase my dreams, and look at me now! All I found were nightmares!"

"So, we'll run from our nightmares," agreed Aurus. "Come on, Téa; we have to be out of Paris before Keith realizes that we're gone."

Seto seized Téa's arm again.

"Kaiba, please understand," she said, before he could say a word. "I can't go back like this. What'll they say? What am I supposed to say when they asked me what happened? Do I tell them that all of my dreams are shattered!?"

"Snap out of it, Gardner; this isn't like you!" Seto retorted. "So what if your dreams are shattered? Put it behind you and move on."

"That's easy for you to say," she replied, forlorn. "You've got everything in control in your own little world. And if I go with Aurus, I won't be there to mess it up for you."

"You can't go with him," Seto stated, firmly. "Chances are that Keith will find you, and you'll be right back where you started. I may not be able to help you if that happens."

"And even if you could, you wouldn't, especially if your company was in trouble," she added.

"Gardner, do I have to spell it out for you!?" Seto retorted. "I didn't sell you out; I never agreed to take the money! The fighting went on after you fell unconscious. I took a hit, and that was when they all fled, including your friend over there. For the past several weeks, I've been traveling all across the world because of _you_! You are the only reason why I'm in Paris right now."

And finally, Aurus couldn't take it anymore.

"He's right, Téa; I lied to you," he admitted.

Her head turned sharply towards him.

"No…" she said, in disbelief. "You, too? Aurus, how could you!? I thought that you were the one person I could trust…"

"I… I'm sorry, Téa," he said. "I really do like you a lot… and I thought that if I turned you against Kaiba, we could be together."

It was too much for the girl to bear.

"I… I need to be alone," she stammered. Without another word to either of the young men, she departed from the manor.

She walked, trying to sort through the muddle in her mind. Why had this happened to her? She was the most unassuming and generous person in the world. Why had so many people betrayed her? She suppressed a sob as she realized that Seto may have had a point with his policy of trusting no one.

The whirling blades of a helicopter pulled her from her thoughts. She looked up to see the craft circling the roof of an old, abandoned opera house. Squinting in the low light, she was barely able to discern a figure standing on the opera house roof. To her shock, it was Kayser.

The normally amiable girl was in no mood to forgive this time; she found her way up to the roof of the opera house, hiding behind an ornate marble sculpture as Kayser kept waiting for the helicopter to pause long enough for him to board.

"Kayser!" she called.

The former dance troupe leader turned to see the girl, her shoulder-length hair flying in all directions from the wind of the helicopter propeller.

"So you've decided to join us after all?" he asked.

"Never," she replied. "I've come for some answers. Why on earth did you do this to me!?"

"It was never meant to end like this," Kayser replied. "I had intended for you to dance your way to glory. You were the one who got too nosy for your own good. And you've put me out of a job, too."

"I feel so guilty," she replied sarcastically.

"You'd have made a good Rare Hunter," he said. "And don't forget; you've worn the robe. A drop of ink has landed on the papyrus; I think that might be enough to make you one of us."

"I'll never be one of you," Téa vowed.

"It's not up to you; it's up to the ancient text to decide. Will that be all, or do you have any more complaints?" Kayser asked.

"Just one more thing," she said. "I vow that one day, you'll be behind bars, where you belong. You put Kaiba and me through too much to get away with it."

"I'll keep that in mind. Are you coming, Aurus?"

Téa glanced behind her to see Seto and Aurus standing behind her. Aurus gave her one long glance before following his cousin onto the helicopter, which paused before leaving.

"Just remember, Gardner; you're one of us, now," Keith taunted her. "We'll be coming for you."

"Try it; just try it," Seto dared him, under his breath, as the helicopter flew away.

Téa sank to the opera house roof. Her thoughts were still muddled as she glanced into the sky, wishing that she could somehow summon the Time Wizard and relive the last several weeks so differently.


	24. Epilogue

"I've called the police and notified them about the Rare Hunters," Seto said. "There's a chance that they might be apprehended, but I think it's finally out of our hands now. Good riddance…"

Téa was only half-listening; she was still in a state of shock that had been brought about by the revelation of Aurus having lied to her. Even though he did seem to genuinely care, he had still betrayed her, just like everyone else. And Seto, whom she had accused of betraying her, had actually gone out of his way to help her, which was something incredibly uncharacteristic of him.

"Are you about ready to leave, or do you intend to sit around on this old rooftop and mope all night long?" the CEO asked. But his voice wasn't dripping with its usual sarcasm.

"Kaiba, you were right all along," she said, allowing the tears to fall again. She didn't like having to cry in front of him, but she couldn't hold back all of the feelings she had been bottling up. "I knew you better than any of those other dancers, and yet I believed them instead of you."

"That's the way you are; there isn't a crime in that," said Seto. It seemed very odd for the CEO to be playing the role of adviser. "But you need to pick yourself up and move on."

"Move on?" she repeated, hollowly, standing at last. "I told you, Kaiba; everything I was hoping for… everything that I had my heart set on is gone. Not only did my dreams elude me, but everything ended up so much worse. Madame Mystíca told me that I'd be missing out on something precious if I didn't go, but all I found…" She trailed off, glancing at Seto. That was when she realized that the Seto Kaiba she once knew would not have chased her all over the world. He would not have bothered to save her from the Rare Hunters. And he certainly would not have been behind her, waiting for her to get back up on her feet. And all of this had come after she had confessed her feelings to him, first indirectly, and then directly.

"Kaiba… why did you go through all of this trouble?" she asked.

The CEO blinked, caught off-guard by the query.

"What do you mean?" he asked, trying to act in his usual emotionless manner. "It was a task that I had to undertake. I couldn't allow you to become a Rare Hunter. You're better off on Yugi's side."

The summer breeze began to blow around them, catching her hair and his trenchcoat as they stood on the opera house roof. The moon gleamed behind them as it sank beneath the horizon, reflecting off of the tears that still remained in Téa's eyes before it vanished.

"And that's the reason why?" she asked.

"One of them," he admitted. He would have denied it, ordinarily, but the girl had been lied to so many times in the recent weeks, he owed her the truth. He didn't need to go into details, so he said nothing more.

Téa was vaguely aware of the bells in the Notre Dame cathedral chiming as they stood upon the rooftop. It would soon be morning.

"And before I forget…" Seto said, pulling out a repaired handheld computer. "I believe that this belongs to you. You seemed to have left it behind in Salem."

"My handheld computer!" she exclaimed. "But… Arkana said that he broke it…"

"Considering that I created it, it wasn't beyond me to repair it," the CEO replied, his confident air returning to his voice.

She suppressed a smile; it had been the first time in a while that she had come so close to smiling. She glanced back at Seto again.

"Thank you, Kaiba; this really means a lot to me," she said. "It was from my friends; I'm sure Mokuba told you."

"He did," Seto agreed. "And speaking of your friends, are you going to go back to Domino or not? You need to let me know, since I have to get this money back to the accounting department before anything else happens. And I'm certain that your friends are waiting for your return."

"What about you?" asked Téa. "Do you want me to go back?"

He was caught off-guard again. But once more, he was honest, and he answered with a semi-brusque nod.

"Domino wouldn't be quite the same without you and your little lectures," he mused.

She understood what he was trying to say. She stepped forward to hug him once again, but this time, she stopped halfway, and instead proceeded to bring her face towards him, ever so slightly.

He saw her coming. He had enough time to step back or stop her from coming any closer, but he did not. And their lips met.

He could have pulled away; she gave him every opportunity to do so. But he did not. He, who had once dreaded the thought of kissing her, was now doing just that.

They stepped back after a minute, as the sun began to rise over the Parisian sky.

"I want to go back to Domino," she said at last. He had hoped that she would say that.

The mysterious medallion was still in the CEO's pocket as they proceeded to his Blue-Eyes jet. He would have someone take a look at it; perhaps Yugi might be able to make something of it. He could've cared less about it; Seto was more concerned with how he was going to break the news of his kiss with Téa to Mokuba. He was already imagining the smirk on his younger brother's face.

Téa, too, wasn't sure of what she would tell her friends. Yugi would be baffled, but happy for her. Joey… well… he'd be baffled, but probably not as happy. And Madame Mystíca wouldn't be surprised, for Téa realized now what precious thing the medium had been referring to.

Her journey hadn't been a total loss; one of Téa's dreams was indeed coming true.

* * *

Author's Note: At last, it's complete! I realize that the ending is rather open and that there are a few loose ends in this case, but I'm planning a whole series of mystery fics, so any unanswered questions will be dealt with in later fics. A huge thanks to everyone who read and reviewed!


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